Baltimore Jewish Home 10-6-14

Around the Community

Shomrei Emunah Holds Annual End of Summer BBQ

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‫ ו׳ חשון‬- ‫טו’ תשרי‬

PAGE 6

Over 250 People Come Out to Greet Harav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel Shlita, Roshei Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim

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The Shabbos Project is Coming to Baltimore!

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CHOL HAMOED SUKKOT

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CONTENTS COMMUNITY

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Around the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

JEWISH THOUGHT The Sukkah Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Aliyah Defined. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 L’Chaim!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 A Simple, Peaceful Abode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENT Notable Quotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Centerfold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

COVER STORY Palms and Fronds and Citrons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Breaking Up is Hard to Do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

LIFESTYLES Travel: Who Really Owns Your Miles & Points? . . . 31 Dear BJH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 A Sukkah of Sophistication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 In the Kitchen: A Warm Sukkos Meal. . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Forgotten Heroes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 In the Kitchen: Cooking for the King. . . . . . . . . . . . 54

NEWS Global News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 National News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 That’s Odd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

ISRAEL

Dear Readers, My uncle lives in Miami, where it’s sometimes so hot on Sukkos people build their sukkahs with air conditioners and fans. I can’t imagine sitting in the sukkah on the first night and not feeling that slight chill in the air. The jackets and sweatshirts we sit in, all bundled up, add to the coziness of the chag. It’s funny that Sukkos engenders a feeling of coziness. After all, we’re sitting in a wooden hut with stone floors—and yet, that feeling of closeness, of everyone sitting together, is prevalent. There’s nothing like a hot bowl of soup and a chorus of voices to warm you on those cold, Sukkos nights.

Every yom tov, we try to put together a yom tov issue filled with articles and stories to appeal to every reader.

Take a trip to the Southwest of the United States and hear what the growers of our lulavim and esrogim have to say. So much work goes into preparing the trees for this tremendous mitzvah. The non-Jewish farmers who work the soil know so much about the halachos of lulav and esrog, they can even teach me a thing or two!

Need to buy a new sukkah? No longer do you have to struggle with large wooden boards and loads of nuts and bolts. There are so many options out there to help consumers construct the most beautiful, strong sukkah. We live in a day and age where everything is so stress-free and convenient, you can even buy a pop-up sukkah, does it get any easier than that? I sometimes wonder if our grandchildren will realize that people used to actually build sukkos by hand. With 3D printing, becoming more of realty, it’s only a matter of time until we have our sukkos popping out of a printer.

Due to the request of our readership for a more interactive paper, I am very excited to introduce our new and exclusive “Ask BJH Panel”, we have two very qualified individuals to answer the questions of our community. Send your questions in to have them featured in our next issue!

We’ve also included many Divrei Torah and thoughts on Sukkos and Simchas Torah in this issue. Recipes for those who enjoy cooking and ideas for sukkah decorations are here as well. We hope this Sukkos will be one of simcha for you and your family.

Wishing you a chag sameach,

Yaakov

Israel News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

The Baltimore Jewish Home is an independent bi-weekly newspaper. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces­sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Baltimore Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The BJH contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

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Shomrei Emunah Holds Annual End of Summer BBQ

7 BAIS HA M ED R A S H & M ES IV TA O F BALT I MO R E

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Over 250 People Come Out to Greet Harav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel Shlita, Roshei Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim Photos: BaltimoreJewishLife.com/Jeff Cohn

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The kehilla of Baltimore and the surrounding area got a boost of spiritual energy and inspiration for the Yemei Horachamim with a special visit from the Roshei Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim.

On Sunday, September 15th, the Rosh Yeshiva Hagaon Harav Nachman Levovitz, along with his wife, Rebbetzin Sora Levovitz Shtichye, and Rabbi Mordechai Grunwald, Director of the Yeshiva’s New York office, arrived in Baltimore and spent the next two days of visiting the homes of many of the Yeshiva’s friends and supporters in the area.

The Rosh Hayeshiva, Hagaon Harav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel Shlita, and his mother Rebbetzin Leah Finkel Shtichye, arrived in Baltimore on Monday morning, joining Harav Levovitz and Rabbi Grunwald in meeting many of the Yeshiva’s friends in the area. Harav Finkel delivered an invigorating drasha in Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, elaborating on how the Koach

Hatorah spares one from the severity of the Yemei Hadin. The Bais Hamedrash was filled to capacity. The B’nei Hayeshiva were truly inspired. After the drasha many Talmidim and friends came up to give shalom to the Rosh Hayeshiva.

Prior to the actual Benefit Reception, a group of askanim and prominent benefactors and their wives and families came to personally greet the Rosh Yeshiva and receive a special bracha. The beautiful Benefit Reception was hosted by Jerry and Sora Wolasky, longtime friends of Yeshivas Mir, on Monday evening. An impressive crowd of over 250 people attended, the largest number since the late Rosh Hayeshiva , Hagaon Harav Nosson Tzvi Finkel Zt”l, last visited Baltimore in 2011. Harav Moshe Heinemann, Harav Yaakov Hopfer, and many other area rabbonim came to the event to show Kavod Hatorah.

Mr. Wolasky opened the program by thanking everyone for coming and

then described the special connection he has with Yeshivas Mir and how much it means to him and the entire community. Over the years, the Baltimore kehilla had formed a beloved kesher with Harav Nosson Tzvi Zt”l and other members of the hanhalla. He also mentioned how the Rosh Hayeshiva, Harav Finkel, continues the Mir tradition of “family”, with a special place in his heart not just for talmidim, but also for the benefactors of the Yeshiva. The host also shared some facts and figures about the Yeshiva’s scope and development, as well the challenges it is currently faces, including impact of the government’s severe cutbacks on the monthly stipend given to the Kollel students.

With vivid emotion, the Rosh Yeshiva described how the yungeleit in the Mir continue to learn with mesiras nefesh despite all their monetary difficulties. Harav Levovitz delivered words of inspiration about the significance of the month of Elul as a prepa-

ration for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and how every individual should utilize this season as an opportunity to become closer to Hashem.

Rabbi Grunwald closed the program by mentioning the warm, special bond that Yeshivas Mir has with Baltimore community for many years. He also discussed the tremendous efforts of the kollel yungerleit who maintain their rigorous learning in spite of the severe budget cuts, and how the Talmidei Hayeshiva joined in the mesirus nefesh of the soldiers by learning throughout bein hazmanim, and minimizing their summer outings with their families reaching out in many other ways.

On Tuesday morning, Harav Finkel davened Shacharis and spoke at the Torah Institute (Shearith Hapleitah) of Baltimore, while Harav Levovitz davened and spoke at TA/Chofetz Chaim.

The entire Baltimore community received tremendous chizuk and warmth from this much-anticipated visit.

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Shana Tova

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The Shabbos Project is Coming to Baltimore!

I can’t think of a more inspiring event to plug into than The Shabbos Project Baltimore, when the entire spectrum of our Jewish community will be invited to participate in a total Shabbos. As the highest and holiest hours of the week, the positive energy of “guarding and remembering” the day Hashem “rested” from creating the world (the day that has ‘kept us’ more than we have kept it!) has been the subject of poetry and songs from the Levite’s song “Mizmor Shir L’Yom Ha’Shabbos” to R. Baruch Chazak’s “Ha’Shomer Shabbos - Ha’Bayn Im Ha’Bas,” to MBD’ s “Just One Shabbos,” and my own “Shabbat Shalom (It’s Nice to Be at Home)” just a few short centuries later! No less so does a Motzei Shabbos need songs and celebration to hold onto Shabbos’s ‘forever’ feeling just a little bit longer. If you came up to Har Zion, Yerushalayim for Diaspora Yeshiva Band’s “King David’s Melave Malka” back in the day (1975-1985) you know what I’m talking about.

What helped fuel the excitement at those events was the “new-ness”

(pun intended) of the rebuilt Jerusalem Experience and the unity that all affiliations of Jews felt with one another - just being there together after 2000 years of exile. While we don’t have King David’s Tomb as the energy source for The Shabbos Project Baltimore’s Havdala Unity Concert, we ARE being presented with an unprecedented opportunity - to open our

hearts and doors to Jews of all stripes to spend a Shabbos together. If that’s not a reason to sing and dance I don’t know what is. I encourage you to participate!

I’ll be leading a very special band, The Brisket Brothers, on Motzei Shabbos, October 25th, at the JCC Park Heights. Bring ALL your neighbors to celebrate Jewish Uni-

ty and show Hashem we love being family: “Hinei Ma’ Tov U’ma’nayim, Shev’es Achim Gam Yachad!”

See you there!

-Avraham Rosenblum Diaspora Yeshiva Band The Brisket Brothers Band

Sukkos Preparations at YKY/TI’s 5th Grade Rabbi Daniel Skurnik, Director of Development

As Sukkos approaches, excitement is in the air and everyone is purchasing their Arba Minim. The 5th graders at YKY/TI have an added dimension of simcha as they learned the agricultural aspects and halochos related to esrogim and esrog trees.

Every year, Rabbi Moshe Juravel, a 5th grade rebbi, presents different fascinating halachos and demonstrations on potted esrog trees discussing the various halochos that pertain to esrogim and their trees. For instance, what brocha is said before smelling an esrog tree leaf? Does an esrog tree really smell like its fruit? Can you smell it if the tree is still orla? How much care is needed to grow beautiful esrogim?

All of these questions and more were discussed and answered through-

out the course of the presentation. “It was really amazing seeing an esrog tree up close. I never realized the thorns

made it so difficult to grow a beautiful esrog.” remarked one student. “My favorite part was smelling how the leaves

really smelled like an esrog!” remarked another.

The following day the talmidim were left with a memento after acquiring a new skill. They were taught how to make lulav rings in a step by step process. The boys were excited to learn this new skill and were thrilled to use the rings on their lulavim.

There is more hands-on learning yet to come after Yom Tov as the class will cut open an esrog and each boy will plant esrog seeds and watch as the seeds grow into seedlings throughout the year!

As these YKY/TI students enter the “zman simchaseinu,” they will be equipped with added depth to their simcha shel mitzvos. Chag Sameach!

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Hapoel Soccer Opens 2014 Season between the Columbia Evens and Orange Odds. Orange Odds won 3-0 with two goals from Faigy Lefkowitz and a goal from Esther Baden.

The G4567 (Girl’s 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Grade) League had a game between the Teal Odds and the Red Evens. The Kelly Odds won 4-1 with single goals from Hinda Leah Feigenbaum, Shulamis Seidel, Rikki Ehrenfeld as well as a goal and an assist from Shoshana Samet. Red Evens lone goal came from Shaindy Goldstein and was assisted by Leora Goodman.

Boys The BK12 (Boy’s Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade) League had a game between the Kelly Evens and Orange Odds.

Kelly Evens beat Orange Odds 2-1 with goals by Avinoam Buck and Eliyahu Glazer. Moishy Kaplowitz had the lone goal for Orange.

The B3456 (Boy’s 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Grade) League had a game between the Purple Evens and Red Odds. Red Odds

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Many soccer leagues focus on competitiveness with little emphasis on the player’s character. Many leagues focus on creating young men and women with good character, but they deemphasize the competitive aspect of soccer. Hapoel Soccer is a unique soccer club that strives to do both: create quality athletes that are also big mensches. Hapoel Soccer teaches their players to be competitive, to be hungry, to strive for success, but... to do it in a kosher way. Hapoel Soccer is built on their motto: Play Hard. Play Smart. And Be a Mensch.

Hapoel Soccer was founded in Silver Spring, MD in 2002 and had over five hundred players in their Fall soccer league alone. In 2008, Hapoel Soccer came to Baltimore. i.e. This 2014 season is Hapoel Baltimore Soccer’s 6th fall soccer season.

This week was Week One of the 2014 Hapoel Baltimore Soccer regular season.

Girls The GK123 (Girl’s Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade) League had a game

won 9-0 with three goals by Rafi Rose, two goals by Mendel Brown, and single goals

by Shmuel Prero, Yaakov Neuman, Bet-

zalel Levin and Yishai Eagle. Both Yosef Slatkin and Yoseph Seinfeld had assists.

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OCTOBER 6, 2014

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Around the Saturday Night Ice Skating at Wheaton Our ice skating event was awesome!

Over 80 teens joined Greater Washington NCSY at the rink and had a great

Community NCSY GNO!

Last week NCSY kicked off their time! Stay tuned for the next Greater girls-only Rosh Chodesh GNO program Washington outing! with a spa night and sushi! The girls had a relaxing time rejuvenating with their

friends, as Shira Heideman shared some important lessons about making thoughtful choices and reaching our potential as we head into the Jewish New Year.

2nd and 3rd Graders Enjoyed a Delicious Rosh Hashana Seder at Ohr Chadash Academy!

The 3rd graders had a great time inviting the 2nd grade to join their Seder Rosh Hashana last week. They enjoyed presenting and eating the different foods. In most of the pictures, the students are screaming Shana Tova! Thank you to Mrs. Rubenstein for helping to make it such a success. Thank you to the parents for sending in all of the different ingredients in which we used to make the food. Thank you to the students for turning our classroom into a home.

International Irlen Syndrome Awareness Week - October 20-24, 2014 Baltimore/Dc Area Free Events, Ce Seminars, And Screenings

Is your home, classroom, or office making you sick? Do you have migraines/headaches?

Do you feel tired, anxious, fidgety, or stressed under fluorescent lighting?

When you read do you get tired, fatigued, or anxious especially under fluorescent lighting or working at the computer?

Do letter, words or lines of text look blurry, distorted, double?

Do you make mistakes or skip lines?

You may be one of 47 million people with Irlen Syndrome, a visual sensory processing disorder triggered by bright, artificial, or fluorescent lighting.

A global Turn Out the Lights initiative is planned at Irlen Diagnostic Centers in 47 countries for Tuesday, October 21, at 10 am EST, our local time zone, to raise awareness about Irlen Syndrome.

Turn out your fluorescent lights at home, school, and work for one minute to show your support for people suffering with Irlen Syndrome. This disorder affects children and adults with learning challenges, dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, dysgraphia, autism, anxieties, light sensitivity, neurological conditions, brain injuries and chronic migraines. Depression is also a common symptom. Irlen Syndrome is also known as photophobia, scotopic sensitivity syndrome, visual dyslexia, and visual stress.

During International Irlen Awareness Week, October 20-24, 2014, Irlen Screeners, Diagnosticians and people with Irlen Syndrome will conduct programs and free testing to increase proper diagnosis and treatment. Irlen Syndrome can be hereditary, with symptoms varying in degree and type

for generations, or caused by trauma or illness.

Irlen Syndrome has been featured on 60 Minutes, ABC News, National Geographic, Dr. Temple Grandin’s autism lectures, Amen Clinics, Bulletproof Executive, The ABT Listening Program, Harvard Medical Journal, medical / educational publications, and international research studies by the US Navy, Marines, prison & public school districts, & vocational rehabilitation centers.

Every teacher, therapist, parent, and person with learning challenges, neurological conditions, or sensory processing disorders will benefit from including Irlen Method as one “piece of the puzzle” of symptom relief. Specialized testing, environmental modifications, and carefully calibrated tinted overlays and colored lenses provide immediate,

drug-free, low-cost improvements. October 20, 6-9 PM, join us for a FREE CE Intro to Irlen Syndrome Assessment at our Baltimore Clinic or sponsor a training at your location. Register: www.

AOTSS.com. Irlen Screener Certification Trainings (14 CE hours) are available.

For information about sponsoring an Irlen Syndrome Awareness event, FREE pre-screenings, or 15 minute phone consultations, call Shoshana Shamberg OTR/L, MS, FAOTA, Irlen Diagnostician for the Mid-Atlantic Region at 410-358-7269, email: info@AOTSS. com. See www.irlenvlcmd.com and our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ AOTSSirlen for more information.

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Thousands Participating In Dirshu Daf HaYomi L’Bochurim Bein Hazemanim Program

Shiurim by Leading Gedolim and Rabbonim in 15 Communities Throughout the US and Canada

By Chaim Gold

Wherever one sees bachurim these days, one of the things they are talking about is, “Are you joining Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bachurim? Did you see who is giving the shiurim?!”

This year, Dirshu’s famed Daf HaYomi B’Halacha schedule coincides with Sukkos.

As the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha progresses through the final chelek of Mishnah Berurah towards completing its first seven-year cycle and its major siyum next spring, the program is providentially learning the halachos of Sukkos… on Sukkos! The hanhala of Dirshu felt that bein hazemanim would be an optimum time to afford bachurim the opportunity to learn the important halachos of hilchos yeshivas Sukkah - the laws of sitting in the Sukkah, while simultaneously giving structure to the daily learning during bein hazemanim.

The program provides shiurim on the halachos by prominent gedolim and poskim and offer the bachurim the chance to take tests and experience the success of accountable yedias haTorah similar to that being experienced by tens of thousands of lomdei Dirshu the world over each month.

The program that is running both in America and Eretz Yisroel, under the title, “Kinyan Sukkah” and both in America and Eretz Yisrael, Dirshu has published a special Mishnah Berurah booklets containing the entire seder halimud and schedule encompassing siman 639-642.

The program has not only garnered the attention of the thousands of bachurim who have joined Dirshu but, even more importantly, it has earned the admiration and enthusiastic haskamos of Roshei Yeshiva from throughout America and Eretz Yisrael.

Bein Hazemanim – A Time to Strengthen Oneself in Learning?!

In a letter that displays his admiration for both the bein hazemanim Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bachurim program and for Dirshu’s harbatzos haTorah and chizuk haTorah, HaGaon HaRav Reuven Feinstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Staten Island writes, “Immediately following the holy day of Yom Kippur is bein hazemanim where the talmidei hayeshivos leave the walls of the yeshiva’s beis medrash… it is possible [if care is not taken] to lose all of the wonderful acquisitions of the yemei ratzon, before they even return for the winter zman.

“For this reason, it is clear that the distinguished menahelim of Dirshu, the faithful organization that is known for its efforts to strengthen Torah and Torah learners in so many different ways, has stepped into the breach by creating a special learning program [in hilchos Sukkah] for the bein hazemanim and has created shiurim by well-known maggidei shiur as well as created tests…so that the bein hazemanim will be…a continuation

of the spiritual ascent accomplished during Elul zman….”

In a seminal letter hand-written by the Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood, HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, shlita and co-signed by HaGaon HaRav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, and HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Feivel Schustal, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Neos Yaakov, Rav Kotler hails Dirshu and its “special program for yeshivos gedolos and mesivtos for learning halacha l’maaseh during bein hazemanim and strengthening learning during bein hazemanim and preventing a slackening off in learning…”

Impressive Array of Inaugural Shiurim on Hilchos Sukkah by Prominent Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbanim and Poskim in 15 Communities One of the most exciting innovations of the Bein Hazemanim Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bachurim program is the inaugural shiurim being given by leading Roshei Yeshiva, Poskim and Rabbonim on the first day of bein hazemanim, 11 Tishrei/October 5 in fifteen communities throughout the United States and Canada.

In Baltimore, Harav Yosef Berger, shlita, will be giving the inaugural shiur at his shul, Kehillas Kol Torah. In Boro Park, HaRav Yitzchok Zalman Gips, shlita, will be giving the opening shiur at his shul, Kehillas Birchas Avrohom. In Chicago, the Mashgiach of the Telshe Yeshiva, Harav Avrohom Lipschutz, shlita, will deliver the opening shiur at the Chicago Center for Torah and Chessed and in Cleveland, Harav Boruch Hirschfeld, shlita, Rav Kehillas Ahavas Yisroel and Rosh Kollel Ateres Boruch will deliver the shiur at the Agudas Yisroel of Cleveland. In Detroit, Harav Aharon Sorscher, shlita, R”M at Mesivta Yagdil Torah will deliver the shiur on Monday, October 6 at the Kollel Institute of Detroit.

Moving on to the Five Towns, Harav Yaakov Bender, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, will deliver the shiur at the Agudah of West Lawrence. In Flatbush, Harav Yisroel Reisman, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Rav of Agudas Yisroel of Madison will give the shiur at the Agudah Bais Binyomin Branch.

In Lakewood, HaGaon HaRav Malkiel Kotler, shlita, will deliver a pesicha shiur at Kehal Shearis Adas Yisroel. Moving out west to Los Angeles, Harav Nachum Sauer, shlita, Rosh Kollel of YULA, will deliver the shiur at Rav Einhorn’s shul and in Monsey the shiur will be given by Rav Yosef Veiner at his shul, Kehal Sha’ar HaShamayim.

Further up north in Canada, Harav Yochanan Wosner, shlita, Ave Beis Din of Skver and Rov of Skver Montreal will deliver the

Rav Yisroel Reisman, shlita, will give the shiur at Agudah Bais Binyomin in Flatbush.

Rav Yaakov Bender, shlita, will deliver the shiur at the Agudah of West Lawrence.

Rav Malkiel Kotler, shlita, will deliver a shiur at Kehal Shearis Adas Yisroel in Lakewood.

shiur at the Skverer Shteibel. In Passaic Harav Asher Dovid May, shlita, Rosh Kollel at the Yeshiva Gedolah of Passaic, will deliver the shiur at Bais Torah U’Tefillah.

In Shikun Skver the shiur will be given by Harav Ephraim Greenbaum, shlita, Skverer Dayan at the main Skverer Beis Medrash.

In Toronto, the shiur will be delivered at the Agudas Yisrael shul, by Harav Chaim

Mendel Brodsky, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Shmayahu, and in Williamsburg, the Tzhelemer Dayan, Harav Aharon Zilberstein, shlita, will deliver the shiur at the Vienner Beis Medrash.

Powerful Hamlatzos From Gedolei Rosh Yeshiva and Rabbanim The passionate support of the Gedolim in America for the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program echoes the enthusiasm of the poseik hador, Hagaoon Harav Yosef Shalom Elyasiv, zt”l for the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program when it was first released six years ago.

At that time, Rav Elyashiv wrote a haskama profusely praising Dirshu’s program and especially their new halacha program of daily Mishnah Berurah, “As the Chofetz Chaim writes in his introduction to the Mishnah Berurah that the main thing learning must be is learning that brings to practical action…”

In Eretz Yisroel too, thousands have joined the Bein Hazemanim Sukkos program on hilchos yeshivas Sukkah. At the end of bein hazemanim a test will be held and, as in all of Dirshu’s programs, there will be rewards for excellent scores.

Powerful letters of approbation for the Sukkos Bein Hazemanim Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bachurim program were also written by HaGaon HaRav Aharon Feldman, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Ner Yisrael, Baltimore, HaGaon HaRav Dovid Olefsky, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva Mesivta Beis Yisroel, Ger, and HaGaon HaRav Moshe Heinemann, shlita, Rav of the Agudas Yisroel of Baltimore.

The Sweetness of Accountable Limud HaTorah Perhaps the words of Rav Heinemann best encapsulate the tremendous revolution being wrought by Dirshu’s bringing practical halacha to the masses in an unprecedented fashion.

He writes, “Moshe Rabbeinu learned with Klal Yisrael the halachos of every Yom Tov on that particular Yom Tov… and the Bnei Yisrael accepted on themselves for future generations to always learn the halachos of each Yom Tov in advance of that Yom Tov. Dirshu is [going in that hallowed path] and being mezakeh es harabim by [facilitating this learning].”

One mesivta rebbi who has several talmidim in the program exclaimed, “It is amazing to see how excited they are about the program! I want them to come out of the bein hazemanim not only knowing hilchos Sukkah but also with the sweetness in their mouth of success in accountable limud haTorah and a feeling that they are part of an amazing Torah movement that is being mezakeh Klal Yisrael!”

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The Week Global Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution

Hong Kong saw more clashes this week between the police and pro-democracy demonstrators. Beijing’s refusal to grant the city unrestrained de-

mocracy has led to tens of thousands crying out in the streets. Protesters screamed “Shame!” at officers in the financial district, many in gas masks and riot gear, as they tried to shield themselves from the clouds of gas.

It all started on September 26, when hundreds of students gathered in a courtyard in Central Hong Kong, demanding an end to Chinese oppression and control. China’s modern history with Hong Kong has been complicated, to say the least. For more than 150 years, Hong Kong belonged to Britain. Then, in 1997, Britain handed the country back to China in a political deal called “One Country, Two Systems,” which allowed Hong Kong to maintain some of the freedoms and independence mainland Chinese people do not have, such as freedom of the press and the right to assemble. The people of Hong Kong would even be allowed to elect their

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In News own leader in 2017.

But this summer, China started to backpedal. It announced to Hong Kong that those elections could proceed only if the Chinese government selected all the candidates. To the people of Hong Kong, that meant they wouldn’t have much control over their own government after all.

The students hit the streets, and thousands from Hong Kong rushed to join them in the days that followed.

The Chinese government and the protesters have dug in their heels, and negotiations have failed. Now counter-protests from pro-China residents are complicating the situation.

This week marked a dramatic escalation of protests in the city, which rarely sees such violence, after a tense week of largely contained student-led demonstrations exploded into mass angry street protests. Many officers had rubber bullet rifles slung over their shoulders, prompting protest leaders to call on demonstrators to pull back if police used them or if they felt their lives were threatened. “This is a matter of life or death. If their lives are threatened they should retreat and save their lives,” said professor Chan Kin-man, a co-founder of the Occupy Central group.

The protests have been dubbed the “Umbrella Revolution,” as protesters have been coming out in full force in a sea of umbrellas—partly to shade themselves from the broiling sun and partly to block the streams of tear gas coming from police.

The tear gas has done little to stem the tide of demonstrators occupying more than half a mile of a vital highway usually filled with speeding vehicles. Fresh protests also sprung up in the busy shopping district of Mongkok in an indication that demonstrators were planning to stretch the city’s police force further.

Protesters have defiantly stuck to their demands for full democracy, after Beijing last month said it would allow elections for the city’s next leader in 2017 but will vet the candidates – a decision branded a “fake democracy” by protesters. Those in the streets are demanding that the central government in Beijing allow Hong Kong to

hold fully free elections in the next vote for the territory’s leader.

Tree Planting Splinters Old Record

That’s a whole lot of green! A new world record has been set for the amount of trees planted in one hour.

Filipino officials announced that 3.2 million seedlings were sown in 60 minutes as part of a national forestation program. Guinness still needs to review the data to officially announce that the old record of 1.9 million trees that were planted in India on August 15, 2011 has been broken.

Over 160,000 people, including government employees, students and volunteers, planted the trees in six different areas on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, said regional environment director Marc Fragada. The trees planted were a mix of forest varieties as well as commercial crops like cacao, coffee and rubber trees, he said. “They were chosen by the planters in hopes that the local people will take good care of them because it will be part of their livelihood,” he said.

The Philippine archipelago, once densely-forested, has lost much of its forest cover due to development, logging and slash-and-burn farming. Official figures show the area covered with “closed forest cover” declined from 2.56 million hectares in 2003 to 1.93 million in 2010. Each hectare is about 2.5 acres. President Benigno Aquino has launched a program to reverse that, targeting the planting of 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hect-

The Week 47 Die in Volcano’s Surprise Eruption

Israel Bibi Addresses the UN Aside from all the traffic it caused, the UN General Assembly gave Ben-

jamin Netanyahu an opportunity to deliver a powerful speech to the international group.

In the wide-ranging address last week, Israel’s prime minister touched on the plague of radical Islam, the dangers of a nuclear Iran, and a new paradigm for peace with the Palestinians. He spoke on the last day of speeches to a hall about three-quar-

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Last Saturday, a volcano erupted near the village of Otaki in Japan, killing dozens and covering the region with toxic gases and ash which halted rescue efforts. Initially, over 200 soldiers and firefighters searched the peak of 10,062 foot Mt. Ontake and recovered several victims’ bodies.

Sadly, recovery efforts for the victims’ bodies was slowed due to the ash and gases which were still spewing from the volcano. The bodies that were recovered painted a painful scene of death, where hikers were surprised by the eruption during an autumn weekend hike.

At least 47 were killed in the worst fatal eruption in postwar history, exceeding the 43 killed in the 1991 eruption of Mount Unzen in southern Japan.

Saturday’s eruption, which occurred shortly before noon, was the first fatal one in modern times at Mount Ontake, a popular climbing destination 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of Tokyo on the main Japanese island of Honshu. A similar eruption occurred in 1979, but there were no fatalities.

“Even small eruptions can cause major damage if people are around, as they get hit by rocks that come flying,” Nagoya University volcanologist Koshun Yamaoka said at a news conference Sunday.

Survivors told Japanese media that they were pelted by rocks. Shinichi Shimohara, who works at a shrine at the foot of the mountain, said he was on his way up on Saturday morning when he heard a loud noise that sounded like strong winds followed by “thunder” as the volcano erupted.

There were at least 250 tourists on the beautiful fall day when the volca-

no erupted. Hundreds were initially trapped on the slopes, but luckily most were able to navigate their way down unharmed by Saturday night. Another 40 people descended on Sunday, some with injuries. Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency tallied 40 injured people, three critically.

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The Week ters full.

He began his address by saying that while the people of Israel pray for peace, “our hopes and the world’s hopes for peace are in danger because everywhere we look militant Islam is on the march.” He defined the goal of militant Islam as world domination, and likened it to a cancer that if not checked immediately, will grow and attack “wider and wider areas.”

“When militant Islam succeeds anywhere, it is emboldened everywhere. When it suffers a blow in one

In News who would be “the master of the master faith,” he pronounced.

Netanyahu also tried to focus the world’s attention by underlying the similarities between ISIS and Iran.

He reiterated, “To defeat ISIS [Islamic State] and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war.” Netanyahu said that saying that Iran does not practice terrorism is like saying “Derek Jeter never played shortstop for the New York Yankees.”

In the last section of his speech, Netanyahu focused on Israeli-Palestinian peace. He said that while in the past the assumption was that an Israeli-Palestinian agreement would lead to a compromise between Israel and the Arab world, now a partnership with the Arab world could lead to an eventual peace agreement with the Palestinians. “To achieve that peace, we must not look only at Jerusalem and Ramallah, but also to Cairo, Am-

place, it is set back in every place.

That is why Israel’s fight against Hamas is not just our fight, it is your fight. Israel is fighting a fanaticism today that your countries might be facing tomorrow,” Netanyahu declared.

He called out against countries that applauded US President Barack Obama for leading action against ISIS, but condemned Israel for confronting Hamas. He quoted from both Hamas and Islamic State leaders to prove his point: That they share a fanatical creed that seeks world Islamic domination.

“Militant Islam’s vision to dominate the world seems mad, but so too did the goals of another fanatical ideology that swept into power eight decades ago,” the prime minister said. “The Nazis believed in a master race, the militant Islamists believe in a master faith.” The only difference among the different Islamic radical groups – Sunni and Shi’ite – is over

Insight

man, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and elsewhere,” he said. “I believe peace can be realized with the active involvement of Arab countries, those who are willing to provide political, material and other indispensable support.”

Netanyahu heavily defended Israel from previous speeches made at the same podium calling Israel a terrorist state and accusing the country of genocide. He said that while in the past the Jews were demonized with blood libel charges and accused of deicide, “today the Jewish state is demonized with the apartheid libel, and charges of genocide.” Netanyahu asked, “In what moral universe does genocide include warnings to the enemy civilian population to get out of harm’s way, or ensuring that they receive tons of humanitarian aid each day, even as thousands of rockets are being fired at us, or setting up a field hospital to aid their wounded?”

Referring to Abbas and the Ho-

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The Week

For the last few weeks, rumors have been floating around Jordan over some mysterious government-sponsored archeological digs in the city of Ajloun. Many thought that they had discovered gold or other precious, long-hidden valuables. Although the truth behind the dig is not as fantastic, it’s still very interesting.

Mossad’s 21 Century Recruiting Technique

most premier spying agency, you can just turn on your computer and submit your resume.

The notoriously discreet agency has redone its website and the sleek new design includes a high-quality recruiting video and an online application option for those seeking employment. With versions in Hebrew, English, French, Russian, Arabic and Persian, the site looks to revolutionize the way Israel’s legendary agency seeks out potential agents after generations of backdoor, cloak-and-dagger antics. “We must continue to recruit the best people into our ranks so that the Mossad might continue to lead, defend and allow for the continued existence of the state of Israel,” Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo said, announcing the launch of the new website.

“The Mossad’s qualitative human capital is the secret of our success.”

The Mossad is the global arm of Israel’s vaunted intelligence community and believed to be behind some of the most daring counterterrorism

covert operations of the past century.

Only a few have come to light, such as the killings of the leaders of Black September — the Palestinian group behind the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games — and Israeli assassinations across Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The Mossad has also been exposed in some fiascos, most notably a 1997 failed attempt to kill future Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal in Jordan when a pair of agents were caught in the act.

Most of the applicants should not expect to become the next international mysterious spy. You are more likely to land a job in the tech, cyber, or administration departments of the Mossad. But the video that plays on the website shows satellites and drones hovering over men in dark suits and shades. A narrator announces, “Your imagination is my reality” and the banner at the top of the page reads, “Join us to see the invisible and do the impossible.”

While the Mossad’s outreach is & Be w rit W or st q te e km ua n w a li qu ill n ty ot be sh es a ip by t 10 %

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Jordanian Army Chief of Staff Mashal Mohammad Al-Zaben has revealed that they have found Israeli spying equipment and explosives that had been buried in Jordan in 1969.

The past year and a half of digging was spent safely removing the equipment without detonating any of the explosives. The Jordanian army had removed most of the other caches of weapons, but the IDF specialists were doing the dig in Ajloun to ensure no one was hurt.

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OCTOBER 6, 2014

Jordan Finds Israeli Explosives 45 Years Later

“The Israelis brought all of the necessary equipment, both the electronic equipment and the equipment needed for digging. The controlled explosions were done in the late hours of the night, and no damage was caused,” Al-Zaben reported. The unusual press conference took place at the Jordanian prime minister’s residence. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour was present, as was Interior Minister Hussein Majali and government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani.

According to the Jordanian military chief, the Israeli espionage equipment and explosives were first uncovered on February 4, 2013, when an explosion occurred in a road in the Mafraq region, causing damage in a 400-meter radius from the site of explosion. “The military investigated the circumstances at the scene of the explosion, and it turned out it was caused by an explosive that goes off when it’s in movement. This explosive was part of Israeli spying devices buried underground decades ago,” said Al-Zaben.

After asking Israel for the location of other hidden devices, they were mostly removed. But the ones in more populated areas required Israeli expertise to extract. “This left the Jordanian army with no choice but to turn to the Israelis to do the work themselves in a way that keeps the residents in the area safe and does not cause damage to university structures and nearby homes,” Al-Zaben said.

st

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locaust denial paper he wrote for his doctorate at a Russian university, Netanyahu said, “I suppose it is the same moral universe where a man who wrote a dissertation of lies about the Holocaust, and who insists on a Palestine free of Jews, Judenrein, can stand on this podium and shamelessly accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

The prime minister held up a picture at one point of three children playing near a rocket-launcher.

He poignantly pointed out, “The profound moral difference between Israel and Hamas couldn’t have been clearer. Israel was using its missiles to protect its children, Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles.”

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The Week new, some of its international counterparts, such as the CIA and the British MI6, have websites filled with historical information and a detailed section on career opportunities.

French Jew Leaves Israel NIS 74 Million Recently, an anonymous French Jew left Israel NIS 74 million. This generous gift makes it a total of NIS 110 million left to Israel between January and September of this year by Jews outside of Israel.

Surprisingly, the NIS 74 million gift is not the largest inheritance received by Israel. Several years ago, the state received a huge estate of more than NIS 200 million from one person, who had asked to donate his money to the establishment of a special rehabilitation hospital for disabled IDF veterans. The gener-

ous donor was Ignace Hellenberg, a French art dealer who died in 2004.

Thanks to the activity of the Estates and Trusts Department in the Administrator General’s Office, which got in touch with the deceased while he was still alive, the Administrator General’s Office received part of his inheritance.

Some inheritances are received by the state out of the blue, but quite often donors contact Israeli representatives in advance and express their desire to leave money for the state after their death.

Former administrator general Adv.

In News Shlomo Shachar told Yedioth Ahronoth in a 2012 interview, “A person I met in Monaco wanted to leave Israel several million dollars, but requested to know who the administrator general was. He told me he had two children who he had lost contact with and had no intention of leaving them anything. He asked us to take care of his burial arrangements and bring his bones to Israel.

“The average sums we received from such people every year was about 100-150 million shekels,” Shachar added. “Some people have left the state strange things. There was once a person who left an estate in Colombia in which drugs are manufactured.

“A 90-year-old woman from Los Angeles, who lived on her own, showed me a picture of her children who had died in the Holocaust. She left a will stating that her entire property be handed over to Israel.”

IDF Chief of Staff: IDF Performance Lauded Just a few weeks after Operation Protective Edge, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz spoke with Yediot Ahronoth. He says Hezbollah doesn’t want another all-out war, there’s no momentum for a third Palestinian intifada and ISIS is “a phenomenon that must be tackled.” Here are some excerpts from his interview.

“Since the operation, we’ve already had visits from a great many officers from armies around the world and they say to us: What you did in this combat operation, your professional performance, is unprecedented.”

Are you talking about senior US military officers who came to Israel to

study the debriefings?

“Yes, and not only from the United States. We set standards for them that they don’t know how to handle. They tell us it was an extraordinary operation carried out by our brigade-level combat teams – a multi-corps operation in complex terrain, with very praiseworthy tactical subterfuge. And they aren’t the only ones who say it was unprecedented. The same has been said by local heroes…

“You should have heard the admiration with which they spoke of the way in which the IDF operated during Protective Edge. We emerged victorious from the operation, yet we are still going to conduct probes into everything that went on there, and that includes the best air force in the world too. Every move will be investigated.

Dozens of teams are already busy doing so.”

Did you assess before the operation began that it would take so long, that it would go on for 50 days?

“No, we thought it would take less time.”

In Protective Edge, he says, there were also a number of “waiting days” – the ceasefire days. The fighting was further extended by Israel’s adamant standpoint vis-à-vis the demands it placed on Hamas during the operation.

“The government made the right decision not to forgo its demands, and these things come with a time cost,” Gantz says. “Am I pleased with the fact that the campaign went on for 50 days? The answer is no. We need to find a way to shorten these things. But that’s a good question only in retrospect.”

You already knew at that stage that there were tunnels crossing the border, an outright breach of sovereignty. So why didn’t you come to a decision to act against these tunnels earlier?

“By the same token, you could ask why we didn’t re-occupy the Gaza Strip a year and a half ago, when we discovered the invasive tunnels. After all, it was already clear to you, and me, and the cabinet, and to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and to the people of Israel at large, that such tunnels existed. … Here we had a situation of the time had come, that we needed to, and so we embarked on the campaign.”

The Week manufacturers immediately said it would seek a voter referendum to repeal the law, which is scheduled to take effect in July 2015. Under SB270, plastic bags will be phased out of checkout counters at large grocery stores and supermarkets such as Wal-Mart and Target starting next summer, and convenience stores and pharmacies in 2016. The law does not apply to bags

In News used for fruits, vegetables or meats, or to shopping bags used at other retailers.

It also allows grocers to charge a fee of at least 10 cents for using paper bags.

State Sen. Alex Padilla credits the momentum for statewide legislation to the more than 100 cities and counties, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, that already have such bans. The law marks a major milestone for envi-

ronmental activists who have successfully pushed plastic bag bans in cities across the U.S., including Chicago, Austin and Seattle. Hawaii is also on track to have a de-facto statewide ban, with all counties approving prohibitions.

“This bill is a step in the right direction — it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even

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“Paper or plastic?” That question may be something that we tell our great-grandchildren about one day.

Soon, plastic bags may become extinct.

Last week, California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags.

Governor Jerry Brown was driven to sign the bill by rising pollution rates on streets and waterways.

A national coalition of plastic bag

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Were you aware of the operative significance of those tunnels?

“Certainly.

“In retrospect, I say to you, with all the pain it evokes: The ones in the end who encountered the threat of the tunnels were the IDF soldiers – and it’s a good thing they did, despite the cost – and not the residents of the south. We invested all our efforts into defending the south. All the fallen soldiers from the ground offensive were killed in the defense of the communities of the south.”

What are your assessments regarding ISIS? Are we not overstating this threat?

“It’s not a matter of overstating.

ISIS represents a phenomenon that must be tackled. The Sykes-Picot arrangements, which determined the national borders in the region after World War I, are dead and buried. It’s the end of an era. Someone else is determining the borders in our expanse, and this someone doesn’t recognize any political institution. Its methods aren’t ones of the bombing of countries and the destruction of infrastructure, but rather shock and horror of severed heads.”

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The Week the vast ocean itself,” Governor Brown touted. “We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last.”

But the new law is very far from having universal support. Plastic bag manufacturers have aggressively pushed back with commercials in California blasting the ban as a cash-giveaway to grocers that would lead to a loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs and only serve to allow grocery stores to make more money off the “paper bag tax.” Robert Troxell, a 69-year-old former newspaper editor, said the fees are more than an inconvenience for retirees living on fixed incomes like him. He shops daily because he has only a small refrigerator in his hotel for low-income seniors. “It becomes a flat tax on senior citizens,” Troxell, who lives off social security and other government assistance, pointed out.

Forbes’ 400 Wealthiest Americans

It’s true: the rich just keep on getting richer. And sometimes it seems that it’s getting harder and harder to join the ranks of Forbes’ 400 richest Americans. This year, it took $1.55 billion to get your name on the list.

Last year, it only took $1.3 billion to secure a spot. And because there is so much wealth out there, 113 American billionaires didn’t even make the cut.

The average net worth of list members is $5.7 billion, $700 million more than last year.

Bill Gates is once again the richest American—for the 21st year in a row— with a net worth of $81 billion. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, came in at number 2 on the Forbes’ 400 list, with a net worth of $67 billion.

He’s been number 2 since 2001. Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, came in at number three, with a net worth of $50 billion.

Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, with a net worth of

$34 billion—didn’t even make it to the top ten. He is now the 11th richest person in the U.S. The person with the biggest gains this year is Nicholas Woodman, founder of wearable video camera company GoPro. With a 200% increase in his net worth since his company went public in June, his fortune rose to $3.9 billion.

Overall, American billionaires earned $270 billion more than last year combined; their total combined net worth is a staggering $2.29 trillion.

That’s basically Brazil’s entire economy—they have a population of 200 million.

Of the 400, 303 earned more money this year than last, only 36 people saw a decline, and the rest stayed status-quo. Six people died and another 27 were knocked off the list, being replaced by 27 newbies including Elizabeth Holmes, the youngest woman on the list at spot number 111. She is a 30-year-old self-made billionaire who dropped out of Stanford University and grew blood testing company Theranos into a firm that venture capitalists have valued at $9 billion; she has 50% stake in the company.

Here are the top ten richest Americans: 1. Bill Gates, 58: Net worth: $81 billion 2. Warren Buffett, 84: Net worth: $67 billion 3. Larry Ellison, 70: Net worth: $50 billion 4. Charles Koch, 78: Net worth: $42 billion 4. David Koch, 74: Net worth: $42 billion 6. Christy Walton, 59, and Family: Net worth: $38 billion 7. Jim Walton, 66: Net worth: $36 billion 8. Michael Bloomberg, 72: Net worth: $35 billion 9. Alice Walton, 64: Net worth: $34.9 billion 10. S. Robson Walton, 70: Net worth: $34.8 billion

Secret Service under Fire The Secret Service has been in the spotlight as of late, and not for anything

In News good. Recently, there have been a number of failures by the agency to properly protect the president. On September 19, a knife-carrying intruder penetrated ring after ring of security before finally being tackled deep inside the White House. The president was not in the White House at the time.

On September 16, an armed federal contractor rode on an elevator with President Obama and his security detail while the president was visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The man had three convictions for assault and battery. The gun was discovered only because the contractor was questioned after he persisted in taking videos of the president on the elevator.

front door, and ran through half the first floor of the White House before being tackled.

Gonzalez was indicted on Tuesday on a federal charge of entering a restricted building while carrying a deadly weapon and two violations of District of Columbia law.

At the House hearing, Pierson said she did not know why Gonzalez was not intercepted earlier. “Personnel actions will be taken” once the agency’s review is complete, she said, in what appeared to be a euphemism for possible discipline or terminations.

On Wednesday, a day after taking a verbal beating from lawmakers, Pierson resigned from the Secret Service.

“Congress has lost confidence in my ability to run the agency,” Pierson said.

“The media has made it clear that this is what they expected.”

Ebola Appears Stateside At the Capitol, Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike expressed the view that the September 19 breach of White House security had blemished the storied agency, and several pressed for an independent inquiry into what went wrong. They were not assuaged

by Secret Service Director Julia Pierson’s vow that “I’ll make sure that it does not happen again” or by the agency’s own investigation.

“I wish to G-d you protected the White House like you protected your reputation here today,” Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch told Pierson at a public hearing that was followed by a classified, closed-door briefing. Rep. Chaffetz said afterward: “The more I learn, the more it scares me.”

It seems the Secret Service had suspicions about this intruder for over a month but had never taken him in for questioning. On August 25, Army veteran Omar J. Gonzalez was stopped while carrying a small hatchet near the fence south of the White House, Pierson revealed. Weeks later, the same officers observed him “for some time” on the Pennsylvania Avenue north side but never intervened. Gonzalez later went over the fence, sprinted to the unlocked

Until recently, Ebola was a virus that was confined to the continent of Africa. Now, doctors have diagnosed the first-ever case of Ebola in the U.S. A man arrived in Texas from Liberia carrying the disease. Authorities with the Centers for Disease Control revealed the finding two days after the unidentified patient was admitted to a Dallas hospital with suspicious symptoms.

Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas put the man into “strict isolation” and sent a blood specimen to state and federal labs for testing. Both came back positive for the deadly disease, which has killed more than 3,000 people in Africa this year.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been more than 6,500 Ebola cases confirmed in Africa, with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone among the hardest hit.

“He is ill, he is under intensive care, he’s being seen by highly trained,

The Week

New Yorkers were embarrassed when their new mayor dropped the royal groundhog in a ceremony on Groundhog Day this past February.

It was recently announced that just a week after Mayor de Blasio lost his grip on Charlotte (who was the groundhog that was standing in for Chuck that day), the woodchuck died.

When de Blasio found out about the rodent’s demise, he offered no condolences or regrets. “I would just refer questions to the Staten Island Zoo,” the mayor said indifferently.

“They’re the experts.”

He said he wouldn’t mind if the zoo decided to bar mayors from touching the animal in future ceremonies. The real Chuck bit then-Mayor

Michael Bloomberg in 2009. “I’m certainly open to any changes,” de Blasio said.

Perhaps we need a change in City Hall.

Worse States for Retirement Taxes

Housing is on the Rise

Remember what your economics professor told you: buy low, sell high.

And high may be right now.

Real estate prices are increasing. Since the recession caused the housing market to slump, the perception in a lot of places is that housing is cheap. But new data shows that housing prices are very much on the rise. The average home price has increased, and median home prices by state range anywhere from $140,000 to $1.2 million. Median home prices in the northeast portion of the U.S. and the West Coast tend to be most expensive, while homebuyers in the deep South and Midwest get the most square feet for their dollars.

In New York’s Battery Park, Greenwich Village, and SoHo neighborhoods, owning a home costs somewhere around $975,000. Across the Hudson River, expect to pay up to $550,000 in Tenafly, Park Ridge, and Cresskill, New Jersey.

Some trends seem to stay the same. If you go farther north, you’ll pay much less. In Burlington, Vermont: $240,000. In Biddeford and Saco, Maine? $250,000. But in the nation’s heartland, homes are more affordable. In West Des Moines and Urbandale, Iowa, for example, you’ll only pay around $185,000 for a house. In Southwest Omaha, Nebraska, you’ll pay about $10,000 more, on average.

Retirement for many seems like a faraway dream but when you start planning, consider the states that impose the highest taxes on retirees, according to Kiplinger’s 2014 analysis of state taxes.

Looking to hang up your hat after those long days on the job? Make sure to avoid these states—the taxman will eat you alive.

Number one on the list was Rhode Island, with a state income tax of 3.75% to 5.99% and a state sales tax of 7%. Vermont is also a state to avoid.

Residents are hit with a 3.55% to 8.95% state income tax. Connecticut, Minnesota and Oregon were also listed as states to avoid post-retirement.

and a brand new pinstriped canoe for some retirement fishing.

Lots of teams donated to Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation. The Mets gave $22,222.22 to the charity. They also designed little cupcakes with the number 2 on them for his retirement party.

The Brewers gave his a bronze replica of his bat as well as donating $10,000 to Turn 2.

Jeter received many second bases and a bench made out of his old bats from the White Sox. A pair of cufflinks came in from the Cardinals and former President George Bush presented him with another pair of cowboy boots at a Rangers game.

Perhaps the strangest gift was a medium-sized basket filled with Maryland crabs, courtesy of the Orioles. Nothing says enjoy your retirement like a big bucket of crabs…

Beware of Jobs that May Cause Harm

For The Man Who Has Everything

Salary, benefits, and personal fulfillment are probably most people’s top priorities when it comes to seeking a job, but emotional and physical health should also be heavily factored in. After all, we do spend most of our waking hours at work, therefore a safe and peaceful environment should matter a lot.

What do you get the man who has made over $265 million in on-field earnings for his retirement? That’s the question many of Major League baseball’s teams have been asking themselves when contemplating buying Derek Jeter a sendoff gift. Well, some of the answers they came up with are pretty creative.

The major themes that seemed to be trending are the number “2” and pinstripes. The Angels gave Jeter a pinstriped surfboard and the Indians gave him a pinstriped electric guitar. He got two pairs of pinstriped cowboy boots

According to fatalities documented by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and reports regarding stress by the website CareerCast, here are some of the worst jobs for your physical and mental health.

While many appear rather obvious—roofers will have high injury rates since they spend their days perched on rooftops—others are quite surprising.

What’s dangerous or stressful about delivering packages?!

So which jobs should you avoid if you’re looking to be safe? According

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Groundhog Dies; Mayor doesn’t Care

In News

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competent specialists, and the health department is helping us in tracing any family members that might have been exposed,” said Dr. Edward Goodman said at a news conference. Authorities declined to name the adult patient or even say if he is an American. “The patient was visiting family members and staying with family members who live in this country,” CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said.

The CDC has a team en-route to North Texas to help health officials retrace the man’s whereabouts since he has been in the States. Officials characterized the patient as having close contact with about a “handful” of family members while in Dallas. “While it is not impossible that there could be additional cases associated with this patient in coming weeks, I have no doubt that we will contain this,” Frieden said. “As long the outbreak continues in Africa we need to be on our guard,” he cautioned.

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OCTOBER 6, 2014

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The Week

to this list, being a taxi driver is the worst job for your physical and mental health. And you won’t be paid a pretty penny for driving that cab. On average, drivers only make $22,840.

Next on the list was police officers, who put their lives on the line protecting citizens. Logging workers, senior corporate executives, and newspaper reporters rounded out the top five worse jobs for your health.

Fire at Shanksville Memorial

A fire that blazed at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania on Friday consumed a flag that flew over

the Capitol on September 11, 2001.

The fire destroyed the park’s headquarters complex. In addition to the flag, the losses included a handful of personal items of passengers and crew, DVD copies of the annual commemoration ceremony and meetings of the Flight 93 National Memorial Federal Advisory Commission, and about 100 tribute items left by visitors since 2001.

Staff managed to save hundreds of oral histories and a photo collection.

The memorial plaza, which is under construction, was unaffected. It was completed in time for the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Plans to build a 93-foot tower with 40 wind chimes are in the works.

The memorial in Shanksville marks the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed during the September 11 attacks. The plane, which was traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, went down in a reclaimed strip mine after passengers fought back against its hijackers. All 33 passengers and seven crew members were killed along with the hijackers.

1220 Reisterstown Road Pikesville, MD 21208 (410)653-0057

In News

America’s Oldest Workers Some people love to work. They love it so much, that they never think of retiring. Meet some of America’s oldest workers—they’ll inspire you to keep heading back to work day after day!

At 102-years-old, Loren Wade is one of the oldest workers in the country. For the past 30 years, he has worked at Wal-Mart’s Winfield, Kansas store. He now works 32 hours a week as an associate in the lawn and garden department, doing everything from stocking the shelves and running the cash register to helping customers pick out flowers for their garden.

“He’s so good with customers,” said store manager Tonya Villar.

“They actually seek him out.”

A former mail carrier, Wade gave retirement a try in the early 1980s but deemed it “pretty boring.”

He and his wife of 67 years live mostly off his Social Security benefits and his small Postal Service pension, but he says the paychecks from WalMart “come in handy, too.” “I can buy things that I couldn’t buy off of Social Security, like ice cream and to go out to eat once in a while,” he said.

Despite his heavy work schedule, he and his wife has visited almost all of the 50 states and he played the saxophone in a local band for nearly 80 years.

Betty Reid Soskin is 93-years-old and only a few years ago, she found her dream job. Seven years ago, she became a park ranger at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front Na-

tional Historical Park in Richmond, Calif. Three times a week, she shares with visitors what it was like to work in a segregated union hall during World War II – how she never saw herself as a “Rosie” since black women weren’t hired to do the same work as white women.

“It seems to me that all of the things I’ve done leading up to this period were in preparation for what I’m living now,” said Soskin, who is the country’s oldest full-time park ranger. “So it’s rather an enviable spot to be in. I wouldn’t think of retiring.”

Soskin has worked as an office worker, a record store owner and a political staffer.

Kenneth Curzon is still cruising at 91. In a career that has spanned many decades, he’s done everything from managing service centers at car dealerships to acting as Smokey the Bear for the U.S. Forest Service. He’s also a World War II veteran who witnessed D-Day from the beaches of Normandy as a member of the British forces.

But for the past 24 years Curzon has been running the parking services at Scripps Memorial Hospital, which sees more than 3,000 vehicles come in and out every day.

His work day starts at 6:15 a.m. so he can ensure all of the equipment, including the parking lot gates and ticket machines, is working before he moves on to other duties, like preparing financial and operations reports.

“I’m not sure that I’ve ever beat him in in the morning,” said hospital Chief Executive Officer Gary Fybel. “He’s always here bright and early.”

While he has worked longer than many of his coworkers have been alive, he said he has no plans to stop.

“If they came to me and said I need to step aside then I would do that, but I would probably look for another job,” he said.

Professor John Fraser Hart, 90, offers student a trip back in time when they take his geography classes at the University of Minnesota. The World War II veteran dons a bow tie and uses a carousel slide projector in his lec-

The Week

Colorado Nebraska Wyoming Iowa Hawaii South Dakota Idaho

That’s Odd Change is Good

The State of Happiness

Money doesn’t buy happiness, so what does? It’s the pursuit of many people’s entire lives and the answer is complex, but let’s start with what doesn’t make people happy. According to WalletHub.com, a financial website, poor emotional and physical well-being, a low income, and a lack of community contribute to people’s unhappiness.

So where are people most miserable in the U.S.? Residents in the following states are all about doom ‘n gloom: West Virginia Alabama Mississippi Arkansas Kentucky Tennessee Rhode Island Ohio Michigan Indiana In these states, though, happiness abounds: Utah Minnesota North Dakota

Brother, can you spare a dime? Or two or a few thousand?

It turns out that if you add up all those nickels, pennies and dimes you find on the streets of Central Avenue, you may be able to make a nice donation to your local charity.

Rick Snyder of Bradenton, Florida, is donating a whopping $21,495 to charity. Over the past 10 years, Snyder has collected the massive amount of change on his daily four-hour walks, digging them out of vending machines and car wash vacuums.

“It astounds me how wasteful people are,” Snyder, who owns a 48unit condominium complex, said. It’s

not just currency that Snyder likes to hoard. He also collects discarded towels — washing and donating them to shelters — and plastic bottles for recycling.

Snyder estimates he walks between 45 and 48 miles per week, finding, on average, $5.60 a day. The change — all 2,500 pounds of it — went to the Gulf Shore Animal League, which takes care of feral cats — something else Snyder sees on his walks. “I’ve been taking care of feral cats for years and I started noticing a lot of change laying around,” he said. “So I started picking it up and keeping track of it.” Over the years, Snyder has found foster families for about 100 cats—placing many of them with tenants in his condo. “People do avoid me now if they see me coming,” he joked.

So why didn’t Snyder keep the money for himself?

“I have enough money,” he replied.

I’m sorry if I bump into you on the street tomorrow. I’m looking for loose change—thousands of dollars’ worth.

Unmistaken Identity Hello, I am a thief.

Sometimes, police have it easy.

In this case, a thief did law enforcement’s job for them.

A Louisville, Kentucky, man named Josh didn’t learn the first lesson in burglary: never leave your name at the scene of the crime. After

OCTOBER 6, 2014

matter how controversial. “Society in this country is constantly changing, so the law has to be adjusted,” he said.

He still wakes each morning at 5 a.m. so he can exercise (he enjoys swimming in his pool) and make breakfast for his wife before being driven from his home in Long Island, N.Y. to the Brooklyn courthouse.

Weinstein says he has no plans to retire, citing his love for “the excitement of the law” and the opportunity to help people and “occasionally improve society, even if only very modestly.”

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tures.

“In some ways he feels like he is a relic of an earlier time but he doesn’t apologize for it at all,” said retired University of Minnesota professor John Adams, who worked with Hart for nearly 40 years.

In more than 50 years of teaching, Hart has published 15 books and taught more than 50,000 students.

And he loves his job. “I’ve learned a lot and I have a chance to share with students,” he said. “Each year, I think I keep getting a little bit better at what I’m doing.”

Novalene Slatton says she owes her job to Bill Clinton. The 90-year-old has been working at the Hope-Hempstead Chamber of Commerce ever since 1992, when Clinton had just won the Democratic nomination for president and his small hometown of Hope was flooded with visitors and phone calls. Needing extra help, the Chamber of Commerce hired Slatton as a receptionist. She’s been there ever since.

Now, Slatton works three days a week, manning the phones and helping the office to run smoothly. But her favorite duty is soliciting donations for Hope’s annual Watermelon Festival.

The festival “is something she is extremely well known for,” said Chamber Executive Director Mark Keith.

And Slatton just keeps on kicking.

“I just don’t want to stay at home by myself and look at four walls,” says Slatton, whose second husband passed away this year. “So many people have retired, and then they say they’re bored to death.”

Judge Jack Weinstein, 93, estimates that he’s heard almost 25,000 legal cases in his careers. Nominated to the federal bench by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, his decisions have made him “one of the most renowned judges in the history of the federal judiciary,” according to a 2013 American Bar Association journal profile of the U.S. District Court judge.

Long known for his judicial activism, Weinstein said he’s proud of the influence he has had on the law — no

In News

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The Week breaking into a home, stealing three sets of car keys, and breaking into the cars, Josh Stivers left his Subway employee hat—with his name on it—in the basement of the home.

As if that weren’t enough, and police would have had a hard time locating Josh the Thief at Subway, the phone number for the Subway was left there as well.

Authorities are considering naming Josh the most helpful burglar around.

Is There a Thin Seat?

Want to be thin? It’s not too hard—just choose the right seat.

According to Professor Brian Wansink, director of Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab and author of the new book Slim by Design, where you sit in a restaurant has a serious effect on the numbers on the scale.

The professor and his colleagues visited 27 restaurants across the country, mapping the layout of the restaurant and tracking what diners ate. So where should you sit if you want to be slimmer? Research showed that people order healthier foods if they sit by a window or in a well-lit area. People at uncomfortable high-top tables favor salads and buy fewer desserts, since it’s harder to slouch or spread out.

Eating in an area where you’re more visible makes you want to eat less. “Seeing the sunlight, people or trees outside might make you more conscious of how you look, might make you think about walking or might prompt a green salad,” Wansink writes.

Conversely, those farthest from the door eat the fewest salads and

are 73 percent more likely to order dessert. People at darkly lit tables or booths eat fattier foods. “The darker it is, the more ‘invisible’ you might feel, the less easy it is to see how much you’re eating and the less conspicuous or guilty you might feel,” Wansink writes.

Diners within two tables of the bar drink on average three more beers or mixed drinks (per tables of four) than a group just one table farther away.

TV is also dangerous in a diner. The nearer you are to the screen, the more fried food you’ll consume.

You’re distracted and more likely to get seconds and refills.

In his study, Wansink points out that it’s possible that the heavier diners feel more comfortable sitting in darker areas in a restaurant. Even so, the professor writes, if one is looking to lose weight, portion control and better eating habits are key. “If you want to be skinny, do what skinny people do,” he says.

And watch what you eat, not where you eat.

In News the note on Twitter, “Ok, fair enough @canadapostcorp that’s a decent reason to not drop the package off at my door.”

When the company offered to investigate, Fane wrote, “How come?

The service was great—just thought it was funny.”

He then posted a photo of the bear in front of his home, taken by the delivery man who took the photo as evidence in case Fane complained to the company.

That’s beary good service.

Oldest Clown Dies

Cruising in a Crystal Car They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and many young women love their cars—so what better way to join the two and Bedazzle your new car? Recently, a 21-year-old Russian woman in London covered her Mercedes Benz with 1 million Swarovski crystals—and had passersby blinking in the brightness.

Bear at Door

I know that postal workers battle rain, sleet and snow to deliver the mail. But do you know that delivery workers sometimes have to face ferocious beasts to deliver your packages?

When Matthew Fane didn’t receive his package last week, he totally understood. In his mailbox, up the street from his home, Fane found a note from his delivery man. “Bear at door” was the explanation for not delivering the package.

The Vancouver resident posted

and crystal coat, if she ever decides to sell the car, she’ll be making money in the deal. Oh, and she says that all proceeds will go to charity, if she does end up selling.

For now, though, Radionova just wants to enjoy her shiny vehicle, “If you have the cash, why not do it?”

Daria Radionova, a Russian business student, related that the workers who covered every part of her 2011 Mercedes CLS 350 in crystals, from the door handles to the Mercedes badges, came over from Russia and worked “12 hours a day for two months.” Reportedly, the job used $33,000 worth of faux diamonds.

When day turned to night, the diesel CLS, with a license plate reading “BAII BYY,” sparkled and shimmered. Parked outside the Levin Hotel, tourists and locals were dazzled by the display.

Radionova, ever the smart businesswoman, pointed out that she only paid £25,000 for the car that she says is worth “more than 25k.” And now, of course, with its newfound fame

For decades, Creeky the Clown brought smiles to thousands of faces.

Last week, at the age of 98, Floyd V. Creekmore passed away.

In 2012, Creeky earned a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest performing clown. Born July 14, 1916, in Fergus County, Creekmore had been performing since the 1980s and was recognized in February 2012 as “the oldest clown still working” at the age of 95 years, 6 months.

His fellow clowns knew Creekmore not only as a performer, but as a teacher of clowns.

“He taught us by the way he did things,” said Jim Nasby, who’s known as MADD MAXX when he’s sporting clown makeup. “He taught us how to throw a pie right.”

“He made a lot of friends nationwide with his clowning,” said Clint Frank, whose clown name is Cuddles.

“He was kind of the godfather of Al Bedoo clowns.”

Nasby recalled Creekmore’s 90th birthday celebration. He was so popular that his friends threw him five separate birthday parties, Nasby recalled.

Creekmore told the Billings Gazette in 2004 that he joined the Al Bedoo Shrine and donned makeup and oversized clothes and shoes because he had a nephew in the Shrine Hos-

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The Week pital in Spokane, Washington, “and I decided right then that I wanted to help out,” Creekmore said.

Creekmore’s routines were spontaneous and promised smiles and laughter.

Now, there are large (clown) shoes to fill with his absence.

Beware of the Wave

(410)-559-0000

Whatever you do, don’t microwave your phone. This may sound odd, but quite a few owners of the new iPhone 6 fell for a hoax claiming that microwaving their shiny new device will help charge their phone.

Apparently, someone was claiming that the software that comes installed on Apple’s new gadgets contains a hidden feature which allows wireless charging in any standard kitchen microwave.

The new “feature,” called the “wave,” was touted as having “new drivers that interface with your device’s radio-baseband allowing it to synchronize with microwave frequencies and use them to recharge your battery,” read the ad. “[Y]ou can now wave-charge your device by placing it within a household microwave for a minute and a half.” The ad looked so authentic, that some users even complained that the “wave” feature was not working—along with pictures of

In News the charred remains of their new iPhones in the microwave.

When something sounds so crazy to be true, it usually is.

Turtle with Two Heads

Are two heads better than one?

Recently, a woman in Maine found a two-headed baby snapping turtle trying to cross the road.

“I thought he had two feet in the front,” Kathleen Talbot confessed. “I thought he was deformed. I didn’t re-

alize it was two heads until I got him home and washed him. Then he came to life—and was just starving.”

What do you name the amphibian with two faces? Talbot named her tiny pet Frank and Stein.

“I bought him reptile pellets, which he’s not sure if he likes yet, but he does like worms and flies and hamburger,” Talbot said. “My intentions aren’t to keep him, but to at least give him a good start. Then maybe the New England Aquarium or some place like that would want him.”

“He’s a feisty little rascal,” Talbot said. “He’s already eating with both heads at just 24 hours old.”

Well, with two mouths, I guess he can eat twice as fast.

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Fabulous 3-4br/2ba rancher with everything all on one level - no steps.

Spacious living room. Separate dining room. Modern eat-in kitchen with stainless appliances. Large den could easily be used as a 4th bedroom. beautiful backyard with storage shed.

$349,900

$299,900

beautiful sprawling 5br/4ba home in Dumbarton. Modern updated kitchen with granite counters, stainless appliances & adj. breakfast room. Formal living room & dining room with hardwood floors. Upper level master bedroom suite with balcony and study. Lower level rec room, bedroom & bath. 2-car garage.

$649,000 beautiful newly renovated 5br/3ba detached home. Glemaing hardwood floors on main level. Gourmet kitchen with granite counters & stainless appliances. Upper level has a large master bedroom & master bath with whirlpool tub & separate area with 2 sinks. There is also a large bonus room on the upper level. Finished lower level with family room, 2 bedrooms & full bath.

OLyMPIA AVENUE $350,000

Move right into this well maintained 4br/3ba all brick rancher. Living room with hardwood floors & fireplace. Separate dining room.

Spacious modern eat-in kitchen with doors leading to patio area.

Hardwood floors in main level bedrooms. Newly finished lower level with huge family room, bedroom, bath, cedar closet & laundry area.

SEVEN MILE LANE

BANCROFT VILLAGE

THE FALLS GARDEN

PARK TOwERS wEST

Lovely updated 4br/2ba Cape Cod. beautiful modern kitchen with silestone counters & stainless appliances.

Spacious light-filled great room addition off of kitchen with gas fireplace. Separate dining room & living room. Upper level has 2 bedrooms, bath, den, study & office.

Large partially covered rear deck. above ground pool with deck. Detached garage.

Move right into this 5br/3.5ba townhome.

Gleaming hardwood floors in the living / dining room.

Spacious kosher kitchen with 2 sinks, 2 dishwashers & center island. Upper level w/ master bedroom suite, 2 bedrooms & laundry area. Finished lower level has a family room, 2 bedrooms, full bath & storage.

Well Maintained 2br/2ba Unit. New Carpeting & Freshly Painted. recently replaced Heat Pump. Lr & Dr w/ Sliders Leading to the balcony.

Spacious Master Suite w/ Walk-In Closet.

bright & spacious well cared for 2br/2ba unit in luxury full service building. Modern eat-in kitchen with updated appliances. Large living room & dining room with slider leading to balcony. Master bedroom suite has updated master bath with accessible tub. Second bedroom with built-ins.

Laundry room in unit.

$299,900

$289,900

$154,900

$99,900

410.581.1000 • 1517 Reisterstown Road, Corner of Old Court Road • Baltimore, MD 21208

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Completely renovated 5br/5.5ba brick colonial. Large formal dining room w/ fireplace, built-ins & hardwood floors. Spacious living room with built-ins & hardwood floors. brand new gourmet kitchen with custom cabinetry, granite counters, stainless appliances & adjoining breakfast room. Main level guest br with en-suite bath. Fabulous master suite with luxury master bath. Newly renovated baths, new gas furnace, new upgraded electric, new windows, refinished hardwood floors and much more!

DUMBARTON

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

Barry Nabozny Broker/Realtor 410-977-7600

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

OCTOBER 6, 2014

30

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31

Travel

By Eli Schreiber Partner and Director of marketing for Peyd In a widely publicized case that occurred in 2013, a rabbi sued Northwest airlines claiming the airline dealt unfairly with him when they forfeited his frequent flyer status and hundreds of thousands of miles he accrued. The case was fought in court at various levels, and finally heard by the Supreme Court which rendered a decision against the rabbi.

To provide some background to the case, in 1978 the Airline Deregulation Act was passed which limits the types of lawsuits flyers may file against airlines as well as the laws states may pass relating to airlines’ operations.

The rabbi argued that the airline did not act in good faith in the way its frequent flyer programs were structured and thus was subject to state contract laws governing good faith business practices.

In its defense, the airline stated the rabbi complained 24 times in a 7-month period, and that before forfeited his account and kicked him out of the program, it awarded him $1,925 in travel credit vouchers, 78,500 bonus miles, a voucher for his son and $491 in cash reimbursements With a unanimous vote, the Supreme Court ruled the Rabbi could not pursue his claims against the air-

line because the federal Airline Deregulation Act barred his lawsuit. In its decision the court didn’t address the rabbi’s claim that the restrictions placed on his mileage account violated good faith business practices, but rather ruled that Northwest’s frequent flyer program was included in the price, route or service the airlines provide which the regulation laws were intended to protect and thus his lawsuit could not go forward.

Although the Supreme Court ultimately ruled the lawsuit could not go forward, it seems that the prior decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the ‘good faith’ portion of the suit to go forward, opens the door to a lawsuit against credit card companies whose practices aren’t relevant to and have no impact on the airline regulation law.

If you think about it, restricting the rights to miles and points’ one earns through purchasing and credit card usage doesn’t seem to be a good faith business practice. If one was to open a bank account which offered an interest rate, the interest money earned doesn’t belong to the bank, it belongs to account holder. And with credit cards that offer cash-back rewards, once the cash is earned, the credit card compa-

ny cannot restrict the way you use the cash and claim it belongs to them.

The Federal Government has chosen to keep out of the credit card reward industry. The only regulated portion of the rewards industry pertains to the status of the miles and points one earns in relation to filing taxes. In 2002, the IRS announced that it would not pursue the question of whether frequent flyer miles, and rewards and other promotional discounts awarded by credit card companies to cardholders are considered taxable income.

More recently, the IRS clarified its position and stated that if individuals received their credit card rewards after a purchase, the rewards are considered rebates on whatever was spent to earn those rewards and do not represent a gain on income or wealth and are thus not taxable. However, if no transaction is required to earn the rewards, then the IRS considers these rewards as income and individuals would be required to disclose them on their tax returns.

The bottom line is as follows; until the Federal Government regulates the rewards industry and until the courts determine whether the restrictions placed on rewards violate good faith business practices, (which in fact may be the conduit where the Federal Government to take a closer look at the rewards industry and regulates the market), the miles and points you earn can be restricted. The airlines and credit card companies can determine when, how and if you can use them, what their value is, and restrict them indefinitely because, when-all-is-said-anddone, at the end of the day, they never belonged to you in the first place!

Eli Schreiber is a partner and director of marketing for Get PEYD & PEYD Travel LLC

OCTOBER 6, 2014

As we mentioned in one of our previous columns, one of the great perks about using credit cards is the ability to earn miles and points whenever they are used for purchases. This earning potential is so significant that there are actually many forums, blogs, groups and even a ‘university’ dedicated to helping consumers understand the myriad of benefits and rewards programs available to them by the credit card companies and how to maximize on these opportunities.

Many consumers have taken advantage of these options and turned their spending habits into significant side income earning ventures. An additional way to earn value is through frequent flyer programs that reward travelers by giving them miles and points based either upon the length of miles traveled or the price of the ticket purchased.

But the ability to earn miles and points comes with a significant catch, namely, the fact that the miles and points one accrues from purchases and traveling doesn’t really belong to the individual and in fact really, never belongs to them in the first place. And if this dynamic sounds strange, unfair, and perhaps even illegal to you, well, you are not alone.

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

Who Really Owns YOUR Credit Card Miles & Points?

Notable

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

OCTOBER 6, 2014

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Quotes

Compiled by Nate Davis

“Say What?”

According to a new estimate, Congress has had a full work week just 14 percent of the time since 1978. Congress said they planned to address the report next week because it’s already Tuesday.

– Seth Myers

I think he wants to be president.

- Former President George W. Bush, talking about his brother Jeb

I think they [the Obama administration] should be acquainted with the facts first. You know? First of all, these are not settlements.

These are neighborhoods of Jerusalem. We have Arab neighborhoods and we have Jewish neighborhoods. It doesn’t make me feel good.

I think the important thing is to just get the facts right. I mean, start with the facts.

- Prime Minister Netanyahu on MSNBC responding to criticism from the Obama administration for Israel’s construction projects in East Jerusalem

There’s two sides to every story, and we’re only hearing one.

- The mother of a radicalized Muslim who beheaded an innocent woman in Oklahoma last week, defending her son’s character

Political reporters are complaining that the White House has been asking them to edit some of their stories to make the president look better. The White House said that’s not true, and those reporters should please change what they said.

– Jimmy Fallon

I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.

- President Obama on 60 Minutes discussing America’s slow reaction to the rise of ISIS Excuse me, sir, bombing the Middle East and then throwing the CIA under the bus is kind of George Bush’s thing.

- Stephen Colbert

Thank you for carrying your gun today. 10% discount.

– A sign in a Louisiana restaurant

The new iPhones are out and some are complaining that their phones are bending.

They say if you squeeze the ends hard enough, the phone will bend. And if you hit it with a hammer, the phone will break. Here’s an idea.

Don’t bend the phone.

– Jimmy Kimmel

Chicago is reversing its plan to name a high school after President Obama after it received multiple complaints from people in the community. I guess parents were afraid their kids would spend eight years at the school and still not get anything done.

– Jimmy Fallon About 400,000 people marched in New York today to draw attention to climate change. They held up signs and banners. They chanted things like “Hey, hey, ho, ho, fossil fuels have got to go.”

You know when somebody begins a chant with “Hey, hey, ho, ho,” they mean business.

– Jimmy Kimmel

While highly respected, [Benjamin Franklin] was also vain, obstinate, and jealous of his prerogatives and reputation. He had decided that his role would be that of an “agent of influence” among the politically powerful in France. The Commission was “under protection” of the French government, and Franklin may have underestimated British capabilities to operate in a friendly third country…His ego may have overwhelmed his common sense. Like many government officials before and after him, he may have believed that he knew exactly what he was doing and that his judgment required no additional verification.

- From a recently declassified CIA document analyzing the Founding Fathers

Today the director of the Secret Service, Julia Pierson, resigned. She’s being replaced by the White House’s new state-of-theart security system — a scarecrow.

– Seth Myers

I had no sugars, no dairy, I had no carbs. All I ate was meat, fish, veggies and fruit.

That’s it. For 67 straight days.

- LeBron James disclosing how he slimmed down over the summer

But no more.

-Excerpts from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly last week

Yesterday, Kenyan runner Dennis Kimetto ran the world’s fastest marathon by finishing the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 57 seconds. He also set another record by being the first guy from Kenya to be named Dennis.

– Jimmy Fallon

In a new interview, Mitt Romney referred to Hillary Clinton as an “enabler” of the president’s foreign policy. Which would be a big deal if that wasn’t the definition of being secretary of state.

– Jimmy Fallon

Big Al was known for his timeless words of wisdom, including “Life is hard, but it’s harder if you’re stupid.”

- From an obituary for Raymond Alan Brownley in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after his September 21 passing

It’s the iPhone 6 of wars— it’s expensive, a little bigger, a little more unwieldy than you thought it was gonna be, it’s at least a two-year commitment, kinda feels like you just … got the last one!

- Jon Stewart on the war against ISIS

President Obama is facing criticism over an incident yesterday where he was holding a cup of coffee in his hand, and then used that same hand to salute a Marine. Though with all that’s going on in the world, I’m surprised he didn’t salute with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

– Jimmy Fallon

- Bill Maher After a photographer was accused of harassing the royal baby Prince George, lawyers for Prince William and Kate Middleton said that their son “must be permitted to lead as ordinary a life as possible.” They then added, “Now get away from our castle!”

- Seth Myers

The alternative, in my case, is staying home and talking to Diana about feelings. If that doesn’t get you back to work, I don’t know what would.

- Michael Bloomberg explaining to attendees at a business forum why he is returning to the top position at Bloomberg LP

Attorney General Eric Holder said today that he will resign after five years in office.

When he heard about this, President Obama said, “Oh, he’s my ride. I gotta go.”

- Seth Myers

Microsoft has announced it’s going to open its first flagship store in Manhattan. The Microsoft Store is expected to be just like the Apple Store, but without all of those pesky lines in front.

– Conan O’Brien

QUOTES CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

91 33

OCTOBER 6, 2014

In the past, outrageous lies against the Jews were the precursors to the wholesale slaughter of our people.

President Obama keeps insisting that ISIS is not Islamic, well, maybe they don’t practice the Muslim faith the same way he does.

But, if vast numbers of Muslims across the world believe, and they do, that humans deserve to die for merely holding a different idea, or drawing a cartoon, or writing a book…not only does the Muslim world have something in common with ISIS, it has too much in common with ISIS.

Today an Indian spacecraft reached the orbit of Mars…

They were able to keep the mission’s costs down by outsourcing all of the work to themselves. And who knows?

If it keeps going, in a few years, maybe we’ll have the first call center on Mars.

- Jimmy Kimmel

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

It is now spreading in polite society, where it masquerades as legitimate criticism of Israel. For centuries, the Jewish people have been demonized with blood libels and charges of deicide.

Today, the Jewish state is demonized with the apartheid libel and charges of genocide. Genocide? In what moral universe does genocide include warning the enemy’s civilian population to get out of harm’s way? Or ensuring that they receive tons, tons of humanitarian aid each day, even as thousands of rockets are being fired at us? Or setting up a field hospital to aid for their wounded?

Well, I suppose it’s the same moral universe where a man who wrote a dissertation of lies about the Holocaust, and who insists on a Palestine free of Jews, Judenrein, can stand at this podium and shamelessly accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The NFL announced possible sites for next year’s draft have been narrowed to two locations. It’s either Rikers Island or San Quentin.

- Conan O’Brien

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

The Human Rights…biased treatment of Israel is only one manifestation of the return of the world’s oldest prejudices. We hear mobs today in Europe call for the gassing of Jews. We hear some national leaders compare Israel to the Nazis. This is not a function of Israel’s policies. It’s a function of diseased minds. And that disease has a name. It’s called anti-Semitism.

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME T H E J E W IOCTOBER S H H O M E6,n2014 M AY 2 4 , 2012

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Si se puede, si votamos! Yes, we can, if we vote!

- President Obama in a speech to pro-immigration activists

We need to be more like Disney World.

We need to be more friendly, inviting.

New grandma Hillary Clinton says she couldn’t be happier about daughter Chelsea’s new baby unless the baby was a Latina in a swing state.

- Recently replaced Secret Service director Julia Pierson to Secret Service agents several months ago LeBron James’ childhood will be the subject of an episode of a new children’s TV series. Hopefully it’ll help teach kids a valuable lesson — that they can do anything they put their mind to as long as they’re amazing at basketball.

– Seth Myers

– Andrew Malcolm We don’t have peace because the Americans didn’t want peace…The war in Afghanistan is to the benefit of foreigners. But Afghans on both sides are the sacrificial lambs and victims of this war.

- Outgoing Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai taking a swipe at the U.S. in his final speech as president

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has not appeared in public for weeks. There are rumors he’s sick due to too much cheese, fried chicken, and beer. Sounds like someone is applying for American citizenship.

- Conan O’Brien

President Obama said that over 40 countries have offered to help the U.S. fight ISIS. Of course they said it the same way your friends do when they promise to help you move. “Yeah, just call me, you know, if I’m around, it’ll be fun.”

- Jimmy Kimmel

The federal government is starting to plan for climate change by making extended forecasts that can help people plan for extreme weather — because what can go wrong when you combine the efficiency of government with the accuracy of weathermen?

– Jimmy Fallon

After all the recent security breaches at the White House, Julia Pierson, the director of the Secret Service, resigned today. She said she’ll miss being in the White House, but knowing the Secret Service, she should be able to come back any time she wants. The door is always open, literally.

– Jimmy Fallon That’s how we roll.

- President Obama explaining to Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes why America always gets involved in international crises

I recently tried to refinance my mortgage, and I was unsuccessful in doing so. I’m not making that up.

- Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke during a speech to the National Bureau of Economic Research last week

You can now Wave charge your device by placing it within a household microwave for a minute in a half.

- From an internet posting, made to look like an official Apple bulletin, informing iPhone owners that there is a new feature called “Apple Wave,” which allows users to charge their iPhone 6 by heating it in a microwave. The announcement was a hoax A 102-year-old Long Island woman celebrated her birthday this weekend by going to White Castle.

Services will be held tomorrow morning.

– Seth Myers

35

Sukkos

The Sukkah Experience encountering reality. But in the very impermanence of the sukkah lies its security, because here we realize we are not alone! The reality that we face does not have to terrify us.

The schach symbolizes to us that the world in which we live is very much one in which G-d is with us. Although there is more darkness than light, we still see the stars.

The sukkah is a living allegory for our world, which presents us with far more questions than there are answers that human wisdom can provide. However, what makes this world a place of meaning rather than one of despair is the fact that we can see what the stars em-

enveloped in His cloud. When we reflect on the compassion we have experienced as a result of His presence in our lives in the past, we get a new take on the present and the future. Hope suddenly seems pragmatic and realistic, while despair can be seen a naïve escape mechanism, which is what it is.

Another way to clear our vision is to become aware that all of the acts of kindness that have been done on our behalf by friends and relatives ultimately are from G-d. We have paid for nothing – not the air we breathe, nor the earth upon which we stand – nor for the means by which other human beings can help us. The inspiration from their altruism stems from G-d; what they do for us is a gift from G-d.

We can never begin to repay what we have received not only from humans, but from G-d.

We must be willing to be vulnerable enough to feel gratitude. This thought counteracts the “entitlement” mentality that clouds our ability to recognize goodness.

The third way to clear our vision is to redefine the word “possible.” We must always keep in mind that with G-d anything is truly possible because G-d is not limited by any restrictions. Nothing can happen against His will, and nothing can prevent His will from being realized. Observing the ceaseless movement of the constellations and their timeless beauty can bring us back to this realization. We are in G-d’s hand just as they are. While the people in our lives may affect us, ultimately they are not more than His agents.

The final thought in Rabbi Luzzatto’s collection is that facing challenges is what life is for. We Jews are not designed for “permanent housing.” We were designed for the sukkah. The idealization of complacency has never sat well with us. When we are forced to travel the fast lane, we can be energized or frightened. It is a choice that we all make in the moments in which our faith is tested. The more we can envision the eternity of the sukkah, the more we can welcome the trek through whatever type of “desert” G-d requires us to travel.

These four ways can be transformational.

What is even more powerful is actually coming into contact with the mitzvah of sukkah in the literal sense. Our nature is that we are less readily moved by realizations and thoughts, than by actions, because actions often redefine our capacity to think along new and untried patterns.

May this year bring us the joy of learning to feel and acknowledge what has been true all along. We are TJH in G-d’s sukkah and always have been. 

The more we can envision the eternity of the sukkah, the more we can welcome the trek through whatever type of “desert” G-d requires us to travel.

Seeing G-d’s Presence

The holiday itself celebrates the fact that as we traveled forty years in the desert, we were surrounded by G-d’s presence. The physical manifestation of His encompassing love and protection were the clouds that encircled us. The laws concerning the construction of the sukkah are there to provide us with the opportunity to relive the experience of feeling G-d’s life-force surrounding us without the distractions that blind us to Him. By leaving the deceptive permanence of our homes, we let go of the first and most damaging illusion that blocks our inner eye from seeing G-d’s presence. This is the illusion that material security protects our vulnerability. But nothing material is eternal; the feeling of security and stability that comes from possessions is transient. The only enduring possession that any of us have is our essence. Still, the illusion of permanence is one that we are reluctant to surrender, because, without it, we feel as if we are abandoned to an unknowable fate.

The solid stone, bricks and mortar of our homes create the ambiance of security which is not real. The inherent impermanence of the sukkah forces us into

body – brilliance and illumination. We yearn for meaning and we find it when we focus our inner eye on the stars.

The Talmud tells us that it is no coincidence that the time of year that we celebrate our trust in G-d is the fall.

The timing of Sukkot seems almost arbitrary. After all, our stay in the desert took place over forty years, rather than a particular week in the year. The timing of Sukkot, no less than the physical structure of the sukkah, is an integral statement of our identity. We are not leaving our homes for relief from the heat of summer; we are leaving our homes to experience our vulnerability. It is only then that we are not blinded to G-d’s love.

Paths of the Just

Feeling beloved is not always easy. We all have times in our lives in which our faith is sorely tested. We lose sight of the invisible clouds of glory and fire that surround us. The classical 18th century mussar work, “The Paths of the Righteous,” explains how we often blind ourselves to the stars and presents four different ways to a solution.

One way to clear our vision is to recognize that G-d is far more compassionate than we are. It is only through His mercy that we survive either physically or emotionally all the absurd errors of judgment that have taken us to the brink of disaster. We have always been

OCTOBER 6, 2014

T

he specifications for building a sukkah are both arcane and fascinating. The roof must be built from material (which is called schach) that comes from a living source. Branches, bamboo in its various forms, and palm fronds are popular choices.

It must be arranged in a way in which the amount of shade is greater than the amount of sunshine that can enter the sukkah. The arrangement of the schach should be such as to give us a view of the stars.

In addition, the sukkah itself must be constructed in a way in which it is an inherently temporary structure.

While it may have permanent walls (it may have four, but is ritually fit even with two and a half walls), its roof must be of an interim nature. The roof, therefore, must be rebuilt yearly.

Throughout the holiday, we are required to spend as much time as possible in the sukkah, and to treat it as our home. This often opens us to reflecting on the fact that by this time of year the weather is rather nippy, and had the holiday been set a month earlier we would find the sukkah a comfortable shady spot to sit in the balmy weather.

Let us examine each detail of these laws in order to grasp the elation that this, the most joyous of all holidays, can bring us.

Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

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T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

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36 108

Israel Today

Aliyah Defined

I

t’s easy to lose focus on Aliyah’s big picture when you’re busy spending the first year or so battling every government agency imaginable.

Just when you think you can rest, you’re made aware of another similar official behind a similar-looking desk in a similar-looking building awaiting your arrival. More often than not, he or she is not too pleased to see you.

As the pile of official documents gets higher on the dining room table, the more you turn your attention to the mundane matters of life; by trial and error one discovers the lowest priced places to shop: the neighborhood and all its nooks and crannies takes time to explore. By the time you think you’ve settled down, the spiritual notion of Aliyah, whose shine of idealism has not yet lost its polish, has taken a back seat to the daily grind of life.

It can be similar to yamin noraim: one’s cheshbon hanefesh can be lost amidst the smells of chag and of making certain all those significant omens find a home on your table.

There are moments, however, that give you pause, that find you locked in reflection thinking, “This country is mine and I am my country. No, I don’t belong in New York or Melbourne, Australia (where I was born).

I belong here in Israel.” There comes a tipping point when, like your fellow countrymen, you take part ownership over its struggles.

At 5am every morning, I sit next to Shraga, who made Aliyah with his family a little over a year ago.

They came from Clifton, New Jersey, and like us, have a married daughter in the States. Over the last three months, they have moved out of one house into another while awaiting the closing of the home they purchased in Ma’alot.

Shraga and his wife, Beth, took it all in stride.

They’re not the complaining kind. He is a social worker. Beth is a project manager for M&Ms. She recently flew to Amsterdam on assignment. As a self-advertising chocoholic, I am constantly asking for free samples.

She wasn’t certain about the levels of kashrut in Europe and much to my chagrin came back empty-handed.

Shraga and Beth’s quiet-achiever-attitude to life impressed me enough to make mention of it to Yisrael, my next door neighbor. Israel is a giant of a man who

never misses a chance to poke fun at Americans and their accents. He calls them “Wah-Wahs” because of the way they pronounce their Hebrew vowels. When he pokes fun, he leans his enormous frame over you, not in intimidation but in preparation for the rise he hopes to get out of you.

“You’re all the same. You’re chutznikim.” He smiled waiting for me to start an argument.

“Here’s what you don’t understand,” I said to him while poking my finger gently into his chest. “Yisrael is niknet b’yisurim. That is a concept you will never comprehend. You were born here. You never had to go through the birth pangs of Aliyah. You did nothing to make this acquisition because you didn’t have to do anything. It was delivered to you on a plate. You grew up here never having to consider the struggles of Aliyah. But those of us who have made Aliyah have made sacrifices you will never have to. We’ve given up family, friends, neighborhoods, jobs, schools. In most instances, we live in diminished means. We’ve started at the very beginning of a line we oftentimes can’t see the end of. You never had to find your place here. We did.”

Yisrael listened to my harangue before dismissing me with a brush of his hand and a loud cry of “You’re a Wah-Wah, too!”

Yisrael will usually follow up his comments by placing a hand on my shoulder. I know he understands just how big a sacrifice Olim have made. At the same time, I also know he can’t resist the temptation to rile friends like me into making long-winded speeches.

Maybe it’s because I really do sound like a Wah-Wah, and he enjoys listening to my Hebrew.

Last week, we were invited to Shraga and Beth’s new home for a chanukat habayit. It was called for 6pm. A few light refreshments, a quick tour of the house, followed by minchah and putting up the first mezuzah.

The house was once a novelty in Ma’alot. It was built by one of the men responsible for a lot of innovation in solar heat. Their house was covered in solar panels: almost 30 of them. The idea was to see if it was possible to sustain the house on solar power alone.

The experiment must not have succeeded because bar two panels, the remainder came down a few years ago.

There are a few houses in Ma’alot that seem to have been more successful. Three doors away from us, our neighbor’s 32 panels are working well.

Shraga and Beth’s house has a beautiful garden where we davened minchah. It wasn’t easy to concentrate while getting bitten by more mosquitos than I

Rafi Sackville

could shake a stick at.

The scientist passed away a year ago and his widow found it too difficult to remain in the house by herself.

Not only did she sell it before moving into an old age home, but she sold it lock, stock and barrel. She took nothing with her except the photos. The furniture, the kitchen settings, the bathroom fixtures were all left behind. Shraga and Beth didn’t seem to mind. Keren took the tour and later remarked on Beth’s continuous smile.

Yisrael had sent apologies for not having been able to make it. I was sorry because he wasn’t there for the mezuzah ceremony. It might have made him think twice when talking about Wah-wahs.

After Shraga put up the mezuzah, he cleared his throat to say a few words.

“We recently read the parsha of Nitzavim. The mefarshim say that you, Bnei Yisrael, are standing here today after hearing the klalot. You’re still alive. Moshe Rabbeinu assures them that they are going to survive. I want to say my own p’shat. Not only are ‘we’ standing here today, but we are doing so in Eretz Yisrael with the wonderful opportunity of being able to buy our own home.

“Our friend Elimelech who lives down the road from us told me how his plans for shlichut were foiled time after time. Something always came up to keep him here. I told him that I’m jealous of him. Yitzchak Avinu had such a high level of kedusha, he was never allowed to leave the land. I told Elimelech that he must be on such a high madreiga to never have left here, despite his many tries.”

Shraga’s eyes had filled with tears as he put up the mezuzah. As I watched him, I seemed to rediscover the reasons we had come to live here. The supermarket runs, the government offices, the bills, the banks, they all tumbled away from my consciousness like a house of cards. In their place was the idea, the ideals, the kedusha, and the beauty of the country of our choice. The country where we belong.

I didn’t ponder these thoughts too long, however.

We still had court documents and national insurance papers to complete before the night was over. I looked around for some M&Ms, but remembering Beth’s mention of kashrut in Europe left empty-handed, but not before bidding Shraga and Beth good evening.

Then I had a change of mind about those government documents and pointed the car in the direction of Yisrael’s house. I couldn’t wait to tell him what Shraga had said, even if I knew he’d listen attentively before calling me a Wah-Wah. Rafi Sackville, formerly of Cedarhurst, lives in Ma’alot inWestern Galil. He teaches in the local high school.

The supermarket runs, the government offices, the bills, the banks, they all tumbled away from my consciousness like a house of cards.

81 Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

“L

that there are physical and spiritual aspects to everything. When we say, “L’chaim,” we are not saying “To life”

ity. If we eat, drink, or exercise to be healthy to serve Hashem, if we relax to be a better parent or spouse when

WE ARE BRINGING THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TOGETHER TO REMIND OURSELVES OF WHAT IT MEANS TO TRULY LIVE.

but “Two lives” (or “to two lives” to be more precise).

Chaim is a plural form of chai which connotes two types of life.

One is the physical world in which we dwell and the other is the spiritual world we aim for. We ideally should be cognizant of both these existences at all times. Our job in this world is to take the physical and uplift it by giving it an aspect of the spiritual. By recognizing that the purpose of the drink is not just to indulge but to sanctify the day through kiddush, we are living not just one life, but two lives, or “chaim”!

As an extension of this, when we wish to enjoy a drink as part of a simcha, we recall the fact that the enjoyment is not purely physical but spiritual too! We wish people well on both a physical level and a spiritual one as a reminder to us and to them as well that to truly live is to live a life now that will last for eternity.

When we use fine crystal and silver on Pesach, or when we eat on Shabbos and yom tov (and we Jews really eat on Shabbos and yom tov!), we are bringing the physical and spiritual together to remind ourselves of what it means to truly live.

The sukkah, of course, is a most amazing coalescence of these ideas.

We must have solid walls, a symbol of the physical world. However, the roof is open to Hashem’s sky, representing the limitless eternal nature of our own ruchniyus, the fact that our lives are lived for a future world as well, which is closely interconnected with our physical one.

Every time we eat, drink, relax, play, or schmooze, we can ensure that it is for, and has an aspect of, spiritual-

we’re refreshed, or if we schmooze to build friendships and steer the conversations away from lashon hara, then we have successfully connected this world to the next and are living not one life, but two at the same time.

This Sukkos, as you’re sitting fully-immersed in the mitzvah that shows us how to connect the two worlds,

Hitting your target isn’t always this easy.

have a cookie, look skyward, and drink to your success. L’chaim!

Now in bookstores, The Observant Jew, a compilation of some of Rabbi Gewirtz’s best articles from years past, is receiving critical acclaim. With short, funny, insightful selections, this book is the perfect summertime companion. Look for it in your favorite Jewish Book Store or visit Feldheim.com.

Jonathan Gewirtz is an inspirational writer and speaker whose work has appeared in publications around the world.

He also operates JewishSpeechWriter. com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion.

Sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF Dvar Torah in English. E-mail info@ JewishSpeechWriter.com and put Subscribe in the subject. © 2014 by Jonathan Gewirtz. All rights reserved.

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OCTOBER 6, 2014

’chaim!” This common refrain when making a toast is so well established that it has become a noun on its own. People will say, “Let’s make a l’chaim,” or, “You’re invited to my daughter’s l’chaim.” What they mean is that there will be some sort of alcoholic drink consumed and the actual swallowing will be preceded by a hearty wish of “L’chaim! – to life!”

So where did this come from and why is it so important to the Jewish culture? Do we truly idealize the consumption of liquor? Are we praising the buzz or the escape that drinking affords a person? Of course not. There must be something deeper, something more meaningful.

One source for this custom comes from Talmudic times when wine was very strong and drinking undiluted wine could be harmful. Before one drank wine, he would say, “Savri, maranan,” asking his companions, “What do you hold? Has it been diluted? Is this safe to drink?” Their response, if it was safe, would be “L’chaim! To life!” to let him know that it would not hurt him. In fact, many Sefardim still have this custom during Kiddush.

When the one making Kiddush says, “Savri, How do you hold,” or alternatively, “Pay attention for I am now making a bracha,” the listeners respond with a hearty, “L’chaim!”

It would make sense to continue the practice if there were health concerns, and I imagine that most of us are careful to make sure that we are about to ingest something that will not kill us, at least, not instantly. Why, then, has the practice continued and more than that, achieved some sort of mystique about it?

The answer lies in something fundamental that we might have missed.

The translation of the word is not so cut-and-dried. You see, if we wanted to say “life,” or “alive,” the word would be “chai.” The fact that we use the word “chaim,” with a mem at the end, makes all the difference in the world, or actually, worlds.

When we partake of a food or beverage, we make a bracha before we do. In that way, we acquire from Hashem the right to consume the item, and we elevate it as well. We know

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

L’Chaim!

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

The Observant Jew

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T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

OCTOBER 6, 2014

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John Kirkpatrick and his wife, Shirley, on their farm

Palms and Fronds and Citrons

Meet the Farmers who Grow Our Lulavim and Esrogim in the American Southwest

BY BRENDY J. SIEV

Farming Fronds on Futterman Farms

On Futterman Farms, in Riverside County, in Indio, California, Arthur and Gale Futterman grow lulavim. Their date farm, on a four-and-a-half acre ranch, grows the premier Dayri date trees whose leaves become perfect and prized lulavim.

Two weeks into this year’s lulav harvest, I speak to Arthur Futterman as he comes in from another 110-degree workday in the Coachella Valley. “Phoenix isn’t hot enough,” he chuckles. Originally from southern Iraq, Dayri date palms can grow in very few parts of the United States. They need extreme heat, Futterman tells me, and the heat must be dry. But

their love of desert heat doesn’t stop them from drinking: on a typical 105-degree day, a single date palm requires 185 gallons of water.

The rain-free Futterman Farms gets its irrigation from a canal that draws water from the Colorado River. So Futterman Farms, a drive from Palm Springs, is the perfect location.

Currently, Arthur Futterman has 120 producing trees; 120 young trees are not yet producing. These trees have been coaxed from saplings that sprout off the sides of older palms, as it is nearly impossible to grow healthy Dayri trees from seeds.

Once mature, a good palm tree produces approxi-

mately 18 new fronds per year. The lulav is the very center leaf that hasn’t emerged and opened. Once thorns are out of the way, the young frond is cut just enough so more will grow. In order to keep the palms alive and healthy, only between six and eight fronds can be cut per year. That means six to eight lulavim come from each Dayri palm annually.

After each lulav cutting, the lulavim are sent to a local facility for preserving them until Succos. The last cuts are packed well in crates and overnighted through FedEx to their distribution centers.

Dayri palm trees can grow 80 feet tall. Of course, past 40 feet, it becomes too difficult to harvest lulavim

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Citron California: John Kirkpatrick’s Esrog Trees

A

quality market,” says John. While he does market non-kosher esrogim to local green grocers and to three distilleries for citron vodka, most esrogim that show signs of being non-kosher are “dropped” off the trees before they even ripen. This ensures that only those most likely to be kosher are cultivated and cared for.

Lindcove Ranch, located in Tulare County, one of the major citrus counties in California, is inland from the coast. The farm, in Exeter, California, is posed in the perfect geographical location for raising esrogim.

While well over 300,000 esrogim are exported from Israel, Italy, and Morocco, Kirkpatrick’s five acres produce up to six percent—a significant portion—of the total world production.

That is why Kirkpatrick is the only successful citron grower in the United States. Several other farms are trying to grow kosher esrogim; none are currently successful. His farm is even featured in PJ Library

non-Jew, Kirkpatrick comes from a long line of farmers who started farming in North Carolina, Kansas, and Illinois. By the early 20th century, they came to California and began citrus farming. Kirkpatrick and his son, who is taking over the daily farming operations, have been working on bringing the farm into the 21st century, “one innovation at a time.” At this point, the farm has special cold storage for storing citrus; this ensures that they can start picking esrogim in early July and storing them so that they will be ready for Succos in the fall. The esrogim are even boxed on-site.

Esrogim and their care is a full-time job. Kirkpatrick’s esrogim, certified by Rabbi Avraham Teichman, are nurtured by five full-time staffers, rather than seasonal workers. The workers are Seventh-Day Adventists, so that the orchards “rest” on Shabbos. Because esrogim require skilled workers, Kirkpatrick’s staff is not only respectful and serious about their work, but they have been working on esrogim for years. In fact, one lead staffer has been caring for these esrog trees for 28 years. Kirkpatrick has a special incentive program to reward their efforts and recognize the importance of doing work correctly.

“If it has a California appellation, it should be good,” he says with pride.

And while his esrogim are primarily sold in New England, citron vodka, an increasingly popular drink, is produced all over. One distillery, owned by an Orthodox family is southern California, uses Kirkpatrick’s esrogim for Sukkah Hill Etrog Liqueur, a kosher for Passover, “grain-neutral” spirit.

“We are immersed in this,” says Kirkpatrick. “We produce fruit that qualifies for performance of the TJH mitzvah.” 

OCTOBER 6, 2014

On five acres of John Kirkpatrick’s California farm grow 800 esrog trees. He is the only kosher esrog grower in the United States.

“Less than five percent of the citrons make it to

program lesson plans on Succos esrogim.

Back in 1979, Kirkpatrick worked as a citrus farmer and real estate agent. He received a call from an Orthodox man in Brooklyn who was looking for someone to grow esrog trees for him. They spoke for an hour.

“You’re talking to the person,” he said at the time.

And so Kirkpatrick diversified his farm. He woke up every day at 5:30 and worked until bedtime at 9.

He tended to his citrus trees: lemons, tangelos, mandarins, and pomegranates. And he planted esrog tree seedlings from Israel—including the Braverman, Halpern, Chazon Ish, and Teimani varieties (among others).

“We limped along for 14 years,” he says. “Fortunately, we didn’t destroy the trees’ integrity.”

During that time, he learned about Jewish culture and what it takes to observe all halachic laws and traditions connected to growing and harvesting kosher esrogim.

After 14 years, he brought in an Israeli consultant. Kirkpatrick also visited Israel for a week, noting that his farm’s climate is most similar to the area halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. He visited esrog farms across Israel, observing the construction of their trellising, the way Israeli esrog farmers discipline their trees, and irrigate their farms.

After that, he quickly became the only successful esrog grower in the U.S.

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

So,

I ask, how did Arthur Futterman, a devout Bible College graduate, end up in the Succos business?

Decades ago, Futterman teamed up with the son of his father’s old friend. Both were interested in farming; Futterman had worked on several farms before.

Both were considering growing dates.

“It’s gratifying,” says Futterman. “Dates are a magnificent fruit.” He then lists the benefits of dates—their 26 antioxidants, high iron, magnesium, and potassium content, and their role in reducing colon cancer tumors.

After finishing his degree at Bible College and graduating in 1988, he and his wife set out in a UHaul for the farming life.

“She was two-and-a-half months pregnant. We entered the town at midnight. She got out of the truck, and it was 105 degrees. She started to cry.”

But that’s the farming life. Twenty-nine years later, Futterman laughs, Arthur and Gale have put a lot of work into their farm, selling their dates at farmer’s markets and living on farmer’s wages. They grow organic date palms and harvest the dates for sale, especially the Medjool and Barhi breeds.

But back when they pulled up in that U-Haul, he tells me, Futterman did not anticipate an email he received ten years ago from Shulem Ekstein from Kiryas Joel seeking to grow Dayri date palms in the United States. The man had been trying to connect with someone willing to grow the palms and farm them for him. Futterman, who had only the vaguest knowledge of Succos (Tabernacles?), knew an old date farmer who, in his 80s, was retiring. He gave the frum Ekstein family 900 offshoots. Futterman agreed to plant some of them. Now, Futterman is one of four farmers who have a special leasing-growing agreement with the Ekstein family to grow Dayri palms for lulavim.

Why Dayris? Futterman grows serious when explaining the detailed halachos of kosher lulavim.

“There are four requirements for kosher lulavim,” he declares. The lulav must be straight, green, and closed. The middle leaf must have a tip like a pleat.

If it’s open, it’s not good.

Medjool palms, that are plentiful in the United States (just note the number of Medjool dates in the supermarket), produce lulavim whose center leaf opens quickly, rendering it unkosher. The Dayri’s center pleat stays closed nicely.

There are fewer than 10,000 Dayri palms in the United States, let alone those grown for lulavim. But from 300 palms, farmers recently have coaxed 2,000 offshoots that are just now being planted. It will take years for them, however, to be ready for harvest.

Now it’s my turn. Two feet in front of my Miami kitchen window stand two palm trees, I tell Futterman. Sixteen feet further, on my front lawn, stand four more. Their leaves fan and bend like palm fronds are supposed to in all the tourist brochures, but right

in the center of the leaves stand a single green stick, a tall, ramrod straight, unopened palm frond.

A lulav?

Not so fast, says Futterman.

He quickly lists the types of palms found in Florida. Those ubiquitous trees have plenty of fronds, but they don’t meet the halachic requirements for kosher lulavim. Oh, well. We’ll just use them for Florida schach.

My final question for Futterman: Why do you do this?

“For the holiday and the people,” he says. I can tell he’s smiling.

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

or dates, and so the palms are sold or given to landscapers. Futterman’s palms are still under seven feet.

Of course, to be kosher, even the non-Jewish farmer Futterman must wait the requisite four years before touching the tree.

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

A Fulfilled Life

77 Rabbi Naphtali Hoff

A Simple, Peaceful Abode

I

magine the following scenario. One cool October afternoon, a religious man goes to visit his Torah observant therapist to discuss his many stressors.

He is uneasy with his material lot, and feels the strain of keeping up with all of the proverbial Goldbergs in his life. It troubles him to see others in his community who live in larger, more beautiful homes, drive fancier cars, and go on more elaborate vacations. He is pained to see the names of these same people appear on dedication plaques and as dinner honorees, while he can barely eke out a small contribution.

The therapist listens closely. After much thought and reflection, he directs his suffering client, not to medication or further counseling, but to a sukkah.

“There,” he says, “you will find relief from your troubles.” One could envision the confused and troubled look on the face of the client, especially after he receives his bill!

Yet, that is exactly one of Hashem’s primary remedies to such feelings of material inadequacy.

Every evening during Maariv we ask Hashem to “spread upon us Your sukkah of peace.” One might wonder, what is the relationship between the sukkah and peace? We understand that the act of sitting (and even sleeping) in a sukkah evokes memories of Hashem’s miraculous preservation of the Jewish people during their forty years of wandering in the Sinai Desert following their exodus from Egypt.

You shall dwell in succos [booths] for seven days…so that your generations will know that I made the people of Israel to dwell in succos, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

(Vayikra 23:42-43) But how does such commemoration bring us to a deeper sense of peace and tranquility?

In truth, there is much more to the mitzvah of sukkah than a simple historical commemoration. Sitting in the sukkah affords us the opportunity to take a step back from the competitive rat race in which we live, and come to a fuller and more accurate understanding of what this world is really all about.

Never has this been truer than in our times. Our world is that of Madison Avenue, where the marketing of luxury products continues unabated, echoing

one basic message: Without this, your life is incomplete. Of course, depending on the target audience, “this” may refer to anything from toys and dolls, to designer clothing, to oversized houses with infinite top-end amenities, as well as sleek sports cars which can go from “0 to 60” in nanoseconds.

In such a world, a person who lacks any – or certainly all – of these comforts simply feels that they cannot find satisfaction. (Of course, we know that even those who are able to acquire these items are typically far from satisfied, as their attention is soon drawn to a new line of the “latest and greatest.”)

On Succos, we leave the comforts of our materialistic existence behind and enter a simple structure called a sukkah.

There we are to remain for seven days, living directly under Hashem’s protection without concern for our worldly comforts.

The sukkah is the great equalizer. It is there that we turn our attention away from materialistic pursuits. Instead, we gaze up at the sky above us and come to a deeper appreciation that Hashem runs the world and that only He can and does provide for us.

The sukkah reminds us that there is no physical permanence for us in this world, that all efforts at achieving materialism are fleeting and wasteful. In the words of the wisest of all men, King Solomon, “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). It is for this exact reason that we read these words on Succos.

That, says Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (Michtav M’Eliyahu, Vol. 1, pp. 106ff), is how a sukkah can bring a sense of peace to man. Peace, he says, can only exist when each person is satisfied with his lot, and does not view others as being his personal competition. Once we have been redirected away from our materialistic urges and our competitive sense has been removed, we can work together harmoniously for the common good, perfectly at ease with one another.

It should thus come as no surprise that the clouds of glory which protected the Jewish nation during their long trek through the desert were bestowed to the people in the personal merit of Aharon Hakohen (see Vayikra Rabbah 27:6, et al). Aharon was the quintessential “pursuer of peace.”

(Hillel used to say, “Be of the students of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace”– Avos 1:12.)

What is perhaps even more compelling is the fact that, according to one opinion in the Mishna (Sukkah 11b), the “sukkah” to which the Torah

refers was not an actual booth, but was clouds themselves. Thus, the defining characteristic of Aharon Hakohen, peace and contentment, emerges every time we sit in the structure that his merits inspired!

While the above explanation may not offer solace to our incredulous patient in the aforementioned story, it should be comforting to us, particularly in the tumultuous times in which we live, to know that we can enter our own “sukkah of peace,” which will bring us the deep sense of contentment that we all so desperately seek.

Rabbi Naphtali Hoff is an executive coach and president of Impactful Coaching and Consulting (ImpactfulCoaching.com).

He can be reached at 212-470-6139 or at president@impactfulcoaching.com.

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OCTOBER 6, 2014

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME OCTOBER 6, 2014

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

OCTOBER 6, 2014

I am having a tough time with my parents and in-laws. They both live about an hour away and usually visit us a couple of times a month. However, for various reasons, my daughter (who is three years old) gets along much better with my mother than with my husband’s. My mother-in-law is clearly not happy about this and she complains about it in various indirect ways. How can I help her to have a better relationship with her granddaughter?

Thanks, J.W.

Dear J.W., T H I S MAY NOT come as a surprise, but you are not the first person to have trouble with her mother-in-law. It seems that in your case, however, it’s not her relationship with you that is in the spotlight but her relationship with your daughter – and you are caught in the middle. Of course, there is a lot of information that would help me to know exactly what’s going on here and what approaches might be most effective. Still, there are some principles and suggestions we can look at that might be helpful to you.

On a simple level, you can create opportunities for quality time between grandma and granddaughter. It sounds like that might already be happening if visits are happening several times a month. You might further suggest some time for your mother-in-law to take your daughter out alone to get ice cream, to the zoo, etc. – but only if your daughter is comfortable with that. If you force it on a nervous or resistant three-year-old, it will backfire in a monumental way. (However, if she is agreeable to it, this strategy also has the side benefit of giving you some time off!)

But there is a much more fundamental point that I think needs to guide your entire approach here, and that is this: you cannot create, manage, or force a relationship between any two people. It doesn’t work. A relationship is between person A and

person B; central as you are to the lives of both parties, you are nonetheless person C. And you just can’t take charge of what happens between A and B. You can, and should, create an environment where the relationship can flourish, but you cannot force it do so.

This means that when grandma comes over, you can invite your daughter to come out and play; but if she is not interested, you absolutely should not force her. It will only breed resentment. Your mother-inlaw can choose to accept her granddaughter’s wishes, or she can impose herself upon her. The latter approach, of course, is far more likely to impede a relationship than to build it.

Let’s also take into account some other basic factors like personality and behavior. We all know people we just don’t jibe with so well. Maybe your mother-in-law and your daughter are simply a personality mismatch.

Is your daughter serene and your mother-in-law bursting with energy?

Is your daughter ebullient but your mother-in-law aloof? Perhaps they’re just not a great fit, and your daughter will naturally be closer to her other grandmother. That’s normal, even if it’s not everyone’s ideal.

Then we have to ask, how does your mother-in-law treat her? Does she criticize your daughter frequently? Or demand behavior beyond what she is capable of (e.g., she insists on perfect cleanliness at dinner)? Your mother-in-law will need to evaluate how she treats her granddaughter in order to see if perhaps she herself is

inhibiting this relationship from developing.

As for your mother-in-law’s feelings of jealousy – she is an adult, and she will have to take responsibility for her own feelings. It is not your job, and certainly not your daughter’s, to alleviate her envy or disappointment.

You can talk to her about it, you can empathize with her – but at the end of the day, you simply cannot solve this problem for her.

Rabbi Raffi Bilek Rabbi Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C, is the director of the Baltimore Therapy Center. He loves working with families and couples, and invites you to get in touch with him for a free consultation, www.baltimoretherapycenter.com.

THE FIRST STEP to repairing the situation is to get to the crux of the issue. In order to do this, it would mean to speak both to your mother who is feeling jealous as well as speak to the children. It is very important for both your mother to feel loved and for your children to feel they can display a love for her as well. Try to ask them what bothers them about the situation, however, emphasize to your mother that this is not a competition with your motherin-law. Looking at it as a competition may only make her more agitated.

The next step is for your mother to spend some time with your children, but make sure she is taking them

somewhere that they enjoy, not what she enjoys. Children and adults have very different things they like to do for enjoyment! If your mother doesn’t live nearby, she can speak to them on the phone or through skype. She should try to do this regularly. Keep the conversations short, as kids generally don’t like to talk a long time on the phone, and keep the conversation light and fun. What is important for her is to talk about things that the children like to talk about. If she doesn’t know much about what the children like (for example, if the children love the Orioles and talk about it a lot) she can learn a little bit about the team and games just at least on a superficial level so they can relate to her more.

Finally, it would be nice if both the children, her, and your mother-in-law were to all get together for a nice outing. It will give your children a chance to see that both grandmothers love your children dearly. Best of luck!

Yisroel Juskowicz Yisroel Juskowitz is a critically acclaimed musician, artist, author, and speaker. Yisroel has toured throughout the United States and his live performances have inspired Jewish audiences of all walks life and ages.

Yisroel has been featured in dozens of magazines, newspapers, websites, and blogs, and his artwork has been featured numerous art shows and fairs.

He currently lives in Rockville, MD with his wife, and works as a physical therapist with special needs children.

He recently became a Certified Life Coach.

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112 T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

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44

A Sukkah of Sophistication

By Esther Ottesoser Give your sukkah an aura of polished grace with one of these breathtaking chandeliers!

This simple craft is made of an upside-down wire hanging basket that delivers a big dose of prettyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in three different ways!

Cover it in dainty flowers, trim it to resemble a chic lamp, or stick to the classic chandelier look Any of these exquisite styles will bring elegance and sophistication to your sukkah this yom tov.

Wire hanging baskets are available in dollar stores. Take the hook of the basket hanger and put it through the bottom hole of the basket. When holding the basket from the hook, your basket will now be faced down. Tip: It will be easier to work on this project if you hang the basket from something.

<

Light-it-Up Lamp Supplies 1 wire hanging basket 5 yards of 5/8â&#x20AC;? ribbon Diamond wrap Glue gun Directions Cover all wire of the basket with a single row of diamond wrap.

Take the ribbon and secure it by knotting it to the top of the basket. Wrap the ribbon around the basket until the entire basket is covered.

Glue the end down to secure in place.

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Supplies 1 wire hanging basket Enough flowers to cover entire flower basket hanger Glue gun Directions Using your glue gun, cover entire basket with flowers.

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Fashionable Flora

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

<

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OCTOBER 6, 2014

Shimmering Chandelier

<

Supplies 1 wire hanging basket Diamond wrap 2 silver sparkly bead necklaces 2 black sparkly bead necklaces Glue gun Directions Using a glue gun, cover all wire of the basket with a single row of diamond wrap.

Cut open the necklaces so that they are long strands.

Glue one bead of one necklace at one of the intervals where the 2 wires meet on the basket. Create the scallop by continuing around the base gluing beads at intervals where wires meet. One strand of each color will not be enough, start the second strand where the first one ends.

The 2 ends can be glued to each other with a glue gun.

Repeat with second color of beads right above the first strand.

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80

In the Kitchen

A Warm Sukkos Meal

Naomi Nachman

. I take off le-wrapped in plastic and it comes doub tt Gla et urm stic on.

Go vacuum-packed pla yom tov stretch to layer and keep the during a three day e stic ng pla alle ch ter a ou s oven, I ay the t is alw bbat is the last g my yaptzik into the at when I am puttin bbat lunch when Sha bb Sha Sha for e for ds be foo h hot t ht wit ho Rig make (aka overnight fill it ¾ of the way up a to make a yaptzik in a Pyrex dish and ide mi the stra h pa wit up my day xt ce me ne ca pla day. I so delicious. It is the oven at 200°. The easy to make and htly, and place it in so tig is it It r at. ve co me cut , , h ter ter wit wa potato kugel) ry hot. I drain the wa the recipe and its t as the water is ve ou ogled the origins of it Go e tly tak en s ully est rec I ref gu ca hit.

I always a big t to note that (It cuts like butter!) My ful information, excep d slice the pastrami. use an ch stic mu t pla sn’ the ake wa (M en re op cooked name and the so easy to prepare. o kugel and meat over this meat and it’s ntains layers of potat y.) I serve and family go crazy this dish typically co y full cooked alread val pastrami as it is na the y bu n. and you e ove sur overnight in an e mustard is Abeles t comes out at of mustard. My favorit a Shabbat day tha ds for kin d t foo en t fer ho dif h for a wit it Another ide (a fully g a naval pastrami d Tangy mustard. y yom tov was puttin Heymann’s Sweet an at e min the end of a three da y bu I t. igh ern ov en ov the d pastrami) in cooked and smoke

I

Overnight Potato Kugel or Yaptzik

Ingredients 2 strips flanken 8-10 large potatoes (I prefer Yukon Gold) 1 large onion 4 eggs large Salt and white pepper to taste 1 cup water or chicken soup

Preparation Place meat at the bottom of a 9 x13 inch pan.

In a food processor, grate onion, po-

tato and eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour over the meat.

Bake for 1 hour and a half at 350° and remove from oven. (You are only partially cooking it, so don’t eat it.)

Before Shabbat, add one cup of water or if you have chicken soup boiling for Shabbat use some of the soup to the pan.

Place a piece of parchment papers over the kugel, then some heavy duty aluminum foil over that and cover well. Place in a 200° oven right before Shabbat. Remove right before serving the next day.

16 Hour Smokey Oven Roasted Ribs

Even though I ran this recipe several weeks ago, I think it’s a perfect dish on this topic of overnighting meat for Shabbat lunch. I have also prepared this dish for 12 hours and it was delicious too. You can cook it in advance and re-warm it for your meal.

1 tsp paprika 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp cumin 6 cloves garlic crushed 1 cup ketchup 1 cup red wine

Ingredients 4-5 lb. rack of ribs (Ask Rabbi Yehosha Feldman at Gourmet Glatt to help choose a really meaty pieces) 1 large onion, sliced 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoon liquid smoke 1 tsp kosher salt Crushed black pepper

Preparation Preheat oven to 200°.

Place onions on the bottom of a large roasting pan.

In a small bowl, mix together mustard, garlic, oil and spices to form a paste. Rub the paste all over the meat.

If you have time, let the meat stand at room temperature for one hour to absorb some of the flavors.

In a separate bowl, mix the wine and ketchup and pour over the meat right before placing in the oven. Cover the meat really well and place in the oven for 16 hours.

Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website,www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.

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48

BOBKER on SIMCHAS TORAH

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

by Joe Bobker

“Jewish life is a symphony whose score is the Torah, whose composer is G-d, whose orchestra is the Jewish people, and whose most moving performance is on Simchas Torah.” - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

J

ewish mystics, fascinated by the form of a circle, incorporated “circling” into many life-todeath ceremonies.

Consider: brides circle the groom, Jews circle a cemetery (or coffin) at funerals, the Talmud even nicknamed R’ Honi from Jerusalem the “Circle-Drawer” because he would draw a circular ring, stand inside, pray for rain and not leave until his prayers were answered. And they had a field day in “closing” the circle on Simchas Torah by taking the last letter (lamed) of the last word (Yisrael) and adding it to the first letter (bet, or vet without the dot) of the Torah’s first word (Bereishis), to arrive at lev (“heart”) to symbolize the Torah as the heart of the Jewish people.

Commenting on the fact that there is no specific

mitzvah allocated to the dual festivities of Shemini Atzeres-Simchas Torah, R’ Henoch of Alexandria traced this to its “conclusionary” (azteret) status, “It is a day on loan from the future, for, in the future, all active mitzvot will be annulled, and all Torah will be in the mind.” This “conclusionary” aspect of the festival, he continues, is symbolized by the power of the “circle,” akin to a hakafa, a self-contained shape that flows with no dramatic beginning nor end, suggesting an endless spiral in a world that knows no boundaries or limits.

Simchas Torah swings between two extremes: from the somber elements of the just concluded Elul-Tishrei cycle to the hyperactive Purim-like command Sisu v’simchu be’simchat Torah, “rejoice with the Rejoic-

ing of the Law.” One moment we are repeating many of the most lofty piyutim from Yom Kippur; the next minute we are singing and drinking the yom tov away, even getting drunk…but not too drunk! In the only introductory paragraph in Mishnah Berurah, the Chofetz Chaim prefaces his chapter on Simchas Torah with a warning against excessive drinking.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for conventional shul decorum, Simchas Torah ain’t it: this is no orderly davening; members wander in and out noisily, circulate, chat, make Kiddush, sing, dance, give out candies and cookie to kids running around, all within a service of levity. I still recall crawling on the floor collecting the miniature flags from the apples.

The central custom of the yom tov are the haka-

S

imchas Torah is the only time of the year when the Torah reading is done at nighttime. Why? I don’t know. But why read the Torah again, and again, and again? Why not just study it once thoroughly, then discuss, debate, dispute it at will?

The answer comes to use from Rabbi Yosef Josel Hurvitz, der alter fun Novardok, who told his

Joe Bobker, alumnus of Yeshivas HaRav Kook in Jerusalem, is the former publisher and editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Jewish Times, author of the popular Torah With a Twist of Humor series and the 12-volume Historiography of Orthodox Jews and the Holocaust to be published next summer by Gefen Press, Jerusalem. He can be reached at jbobker@aol.com.

OCTOBER 6, 2014

The rich soil of the Torah can be harvested on so many levels that each time one opens a page, even the same page, one discovers a new experience, a new adventure.

students that the rich soil of the Torah, a Zohar concept, can be “harvested” on so many levels that each time one opens a page, even the same page, one discovers a new experience, a new adventure. And the more one looks, the more one finds; the more one finds, the more one understands; the more one understands, the more one “grows.”

Does this mean that Simchas Torah is a day dedicated to learning Torah? No. It is a day of praising the process of and commending the method of, but not necessarily the learning of, Torah. The obvious question is this: If Simchas Torah and Torah are “as One,” why do we need Shavuos, or vice versa? Remember: the giving of the Torah as represented by Shavuos chronologically precedes Simchas Torah.

So why not link the custom of giving all Jewish children an aliyah (that used to take place every seven years) to the Torah of Shavuos instead of the Torah of Simchas Torah – especially since it was customary for fathers to take their sons to their first day of cheder on Shavuos, not Simchas Torah.

And why not have tikkun leil Shavuos, the “allnight learning” Shavuos session, on Simchas Torah? And, while we’re on the topic, why aren’t Jews freilich un sameach on Shavuos as much as they are on Simchas Torah? Come to think of it: doesn’t it make more sense to finish and start the Torah cycle on Shavuos?

The clue to all these questions lies in an unusual event that occurs immediately before Shavuos.

The parsha includes a less than subtle intimation that the well-being of Jews is conditional on abeyance of mizvos, chukim, u’mishpatim. It is here that we are startled by a checklist of “do’s” and “don’t’s” that is followed by a harrowing litany of Godly blessings (“if you obey”) and curses (“if you do not”) that are so grim that the chazzan lowers his tone in fear and apprehension when reading them.

This is the only time of the year when a Jew does not seek the honor of an aliyah!

Chazal deemed it discomforting, unnatural even, to take out all the sifrei Torah and dance the night away so close to an atmosphere of punishment.

To everything there is a season. This was considered bad timing to gather all “the little ones” (kol ha’niaarim), even those not tall enough to reach the bima, up to the Torah.

Shavuos was thus kept more somber, low-key, for in the shadow of castigation it was better to learn more and rejoice less.

However, by Simchas Torah, chastisements were no longer hovering menacingly above. The mood was loose, unrestrained, the tone upbeat, vigorous, energetic. And why not? Sukkos was ending and hopes for a speedy Redemption were running high.

The time was now appropriate. Close the Gemaras, put aside the serious learning, bring in the wine and candy, and let the lively dancers and loud singers hakafa the night away. I’m exhausted just thinking TJH about it. 

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of Spain, Provence, and Germany sought uniformity.

They accelerated the cycle to an annual one and chose to end it not at Pesach-time as was the then-custom, but on the last day of Succas. Why? Because this period was already heavily laden with halachik laws of joy and gaiety.

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

fos (“seven circlings”), a circular procession of Jews praising the Torah. Why seven? To recall the seven circuits that the priests made around the altar.

Was it always a custom to circle the synagogue clutching sifrei Torah? No. The Machzor Vitry, an 11th century liturgical work from the school of Rashi, describes how it used to be: on both Simchas Torah and Hoshana Rabba, all the Torahs were removed and held, unopened and unread, in the center of the shul whilst the congregants circled. In fact, hakafos is a relatively recent custom, traced back to Rabbi Chaim Vital, 16th century kabbalist from Sfas and pupil of R’ Lurie, the Ari. Since then, the concept of seven hakafos has not only been enthusiastically accepted as minhag eretz Yisrael, (“custom of Israel”), but has even multiplied itself to as many as three different times, both evenings plus Simchas Torah by day.

At first, the rabbis were concerned at this creeping expansion of hakafot on the evening after Shemini Atzeres because of possible desecration of a yom tov.

However, all doubts quickly collapsed in the face of a Gemara suggestion: Don’t mess with the masses (“See how the people act, and that is the law!”).

The Jews demanded hakafos, the more the merrier!

And so it stayed (if you spell minhag backwards, point out the droll Yiddishists, you get Gehenna!).

As Neil Sedaka (nee Tzedaka) once softly observed in song, “Breaking up is hard to do,” we end the annual cycle of Torah reading and immediately start all over again. But what are we celebrating? The ending? The beginning? I don’t know. I imagine it’s a bit of each.

Was the timing always so? No. In the time of the Geonim, the cycle began at mincha on Yom Kippur.

It was only in 12th-century Spain and Germany, when the day acquired greater significance as a mystical declaration of continuity, that Bereishis began on Simchas Torah, and even then the parsha was not read from a different Torah but recited just from a sefer (or by heart). When the minhag was formalized some two centuries later, no less than three sifrei Torah were involved.

This tradition, to end and start with no pause, underscores a premiere canon of Jewish faith, as expressed by Ezra: that the study of Torah is like a circle, a never-ending celebratory “renewal of the Covenant.”

We take this tradition for granted and find it hard to imagine that it wasn’t always so. But it wasn’t. The stop-start custom is nowhere mentioned in the Talmud, nor is it found in centuries of prolific rabbinic writings, not until R’ Avrohom ben Yitzchok’s of the 12th century refers to it in his Sefer HaEshkol; on the contrary, the Rambam describes how the Torah readings were spread out over three, or three-and-a-half years, ending just before Pesach.

In the fascinating 12th century travel diaries of the Jewish Marco Polo-type explorer, Benjamin of Tudela writes that it was the custom in his hometown in Spain to finish the Torah readings annually. However, he describes the tradition of two synagogues in Cairo, one for Jews from Palestine, the other for Jews from Babylon, where the former had broken the parsha into three parts and completed the full Torah reading over three years; the latter finished all the parshiyos in one year. Yet, in a show of unity, both groups got together every Simchas Torah to rejoice with the Torah, no matter where each was up to in its reading.

This changed shortly thereafter when the rabbis

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50 78

You Gotta be

Riddle!

Kidding!

Billy Bob is determined to become a police officer and tells his friends that he’s going to the police station for an interview with the chief of police. His friends are quite skeptical because Billy Bob is “not the sharpest tool in the shed,” to say the least.

The chief begins the interview by asking Billy Bob, “What is one and one?” Billy Bob immediately responds, “Eleven.”

The chief then asks: “How many days in the week begin with the letter T?” Billy Bob responds, “2 days begin with the letter T. Today and tomorrow.”

The chief then asks: “Who killed Abraham Lincoln?” This question stumps Billy Bob so the chief tells Billy Bob, “Well, you can go home and think about it. Come back tomorrow.”

When Billy Bob gets home, his friends, who have been anxiously awaiting his arrival, ask him how the interview went.

Billy Bob is so proud, he could burst. “Not only did I get the job, I’m already investigating a murder!”

Johnny’s tractor needs exactly one gallon of oil to run effectively.

Johnny has a full barrel of oil and an empty three-gallon container and an empty five-gallon container. How can Johnny make sure that he puts exactly one gallon of oil in the tractor?

Answer on next page

Yes, You are Normal If… •

You prefer to carry 14 grocery bags in each hand than take two trips to bring the groceries in from the car.

•

You turn on the shower and then wait at least 10 seconds before going in regardless of whether the water is hot or cold.

•

You are walking down the street and realize that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going. But instead of just turning around and walking back in the direction from which you came, you first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the street.

•

You wish MapQuest started directions from step # 6. You are pretty sure that you know how to get to the Van Wyck from your house.

•

• • •

• You hear your favorite song on an elevator and feel old.

• You get nervous when you are at a gathering which requires each person in the room to say their name and where they are from. Doesn’t seem like that hard of a task. I mean, when was the last time you forgot your name and where you are from?

When someone is telling you a story all you can think about is that you can’t wait for them to finish so that you can tell your own story that’s better. (That is why it’s awesome to be Centerfold Commissioner. I get to say the stories and don’t have to hear anyone else’s.)

•

You realize that you are totally wrong in middle of a heated argument.

You like all of the music on your iPod, except when it’s on shuffle, then you like about one in every twenty songs.

•

You totally regret all the times you didn’t want to nap when you were younger.

As a driver you can’t stand pedestrians, and as a pedestrian you can’t stand drivers.

•

Even under ideal conditions you have trouble locating car keys in your pocket, but when your alarm goes off at 5 a.m. you hit the Snooze button with ease from 3 feet away, in about 1.2 seconds with your eyes closed.

You write LOL when you have nothing to say, not when you think the text was actually funny.

• There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure that this time you leaned your chair back a little too far.

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population and you belong in the Mensa Society?

Here are 10 sample Mensa questions; see whether you really belong:

8. Four years ago, Jane was twice as old as Sam. Four years on from now, Sam will be 3/4 of Jane’s age. How old is Jane now?

9. What is the following word when it is unscrambled: HCPRAATEU 10. If you count from 1 to 100, how many 7’s will you pass on the way?

2. Which same three-letter word can be placed in front of the following words to make a new word?

SIGN, DONE, DUCT, FOUND, FIRM, TRACT, DENSE 3. If it were two hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if it were an hour later. What time is it now?

4. Pear is to apple as potato is to: (a) banana, (b) radish, (c) strawberry, (d) peach, (e) lettuce.

5. The same three-letter word can be placed in front of the following words to make a new word: LIGHT, BREAK, TIME 6. If a circle is one, how many is an octagon?

7. There are 1,200 elephants in a herd. Some have pink and green stripes, some are all pink and some are all blue. One third are pure pink. Is it true that 400 elephants are definitely blue?

ANSWERS: 1. 25 2. CON 3. 9pm 4. B-Both grow in the ground 5. DAY 6. 8 7. No 8. 12-4 years ago Jane was 8, Sam was 4. In 4 years from now, Jane will be 16 and Sam will be 1 9. Parachute 10. 20 Wisdom Key: 8-10 correct (in approximately 10 minutes): Genius alert!! Umm, check out Mensa…for real.

5-7 correct: You probably won’t make the cut, but you are smart enough for people to believe you if you tell them that you are a member. (Essentially, I am telling you that if you are a liar, this would be a great lie for you to say.)

2-4 correct: A for effort, but you have no shot.

0-1 correct: You are the Albert Einstein of our time! You should also see if you can sign up for the Mickey Mouse society, it’s real prestigious.

GO FUNNT Y?

Comm Let the ission er dec

Answer to riddle: Johnny should fill the 3-gallon container with oil and pour it into the 5-gallon container. Then he should fill the 3-gallon container again and use it to fill the 5-gallon container the rest of the way. One gallon will be left in the 3-gallon container. He pours that gallon into the tractor!.

Send your s tuff a

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ide

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ltimo o fivetow centreerjfeowldi@ shhom e nsjewis hhome. .com com

OCTOBER 6, 2014

1. How many four sided figures are in this diagram?

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So you think your IQ is in the top 2% of the

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

MENSA QUIZ

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Forgotten Heroes Avi Heiligman

Noble Men with a Nobel Prize

W

hen one pictures a Nobel Prize winner in his or her mind, the image of a guy with wild hair and a docile attitude comes to mind. Many of these people are geniuses and have spent their entire life dedicated to their work. Of the 850 winners of the prize that was first awarded in 1901, over 170 have been Jewish. Albert Einstein is the most famous of them all but he didn’t win the award for his Theory of Relativity.

In 1921, he was awarded the prize for “for his services to Theoretical Physics and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.” There have been a few Jewish Nobel Prize winners who have served in the military, making for very interesting biographical sketches. While their discoveries have been extremely important, some of the details are way beyond the scope of this article.

A

lbert Abraham Michelson was born in Prussia in 1852. As a toddler, his family moved to the U.S. and after graduating high school, he was appointed to the Naval Academy in Annapolis by President Grant. He was top in his class when it came to science and physics but wasn’t very good on the ships. He served in the Pacific for a stint and then returned to the Academy as an instructor. While in Annapolis, he discovered that it was possible to figure out the properties of light, which became a lifelong passion.

Michelson resigned from the navy to travel abroad to study physics but rejoined in 1917 to serve during WWI. After a tour in Europe, he came back to the U.S. and determined that the speed of light is 186,326 miles per second. He improved the interferometer; a device designed to split a beam of light, and in 1887 published the results of his findings. With his interferometer, he was able to measure the diameter of a star. Much of his work was involved with discovering the properties of light, and he published several pieces that are still held in high regard today. In 1907, Michelson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for “for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations carried out with their aid.”

T

here was a Mythbusters episode that tested the properties of a mixture of wood pulp and ice called pykrete. This concoction was invented during WWII by Geoffrey Pyke who approached the British government with an idea that would help the war effort.

A Jewish biologist named Max Perutz was the leader of the team, called Project Habakkuk, which was tasked to create a pykrete platform that could refuel aircraft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The idea was shelved when the Allies had enough aircraft carriers to deploy in the middle of the Atlantic. The project would have required a large amount of material that would be needed to construct the base, and steel, which was needed to house the pykrete while it was freezing, was in short supply.

Perutz was born in Vienna in 1914 and studied biology locally. He already was studying in Cambridge when the Nazis took over Austria and soon gained British citizenship. In 1962, he won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his studies of hemoglobin and myoglobin. Perutz

discovered the molecular structures of hemoglobin and is known for his work with x-ray analysis. He never officially retired and when asked why, he replied, “[I was] tied up in some very interesting research at the time.”

O

ne would imagine that a Nobel Peace Prize winner would have never served in the military but that was the background of Frenchman Rene Cassin. Born in 1887 into a Jewish family in Bayonne, France, he received degrees in humanities and law and was a lawyer when WWI broke out. In 1914, Cassin joined the infantry and was seriously wounded. Taken to a hospital, the doctors didn’t want to operate because it would be a risky procedure. However, his mother happened to work at that particular hospital and convinced them to perform the surgery which saved his life. It also changed his views, and he became a leftist anti-war activist.

Starting in 1924, he was the French delegate to the League of Nations which folded before the start of WWII. After the war, Cassin became the French delegate to the United Nations and was the co-author with Eleanor Roosevelt of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He was moved to write this piece that was approved by the U.N. in 1948 after seeing the tragedies of the Holocaust. In 1968, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this declaration. He also held positions on several human rights committees. Cassin was a Zionist and was a champion for Jewish civil rights worldwide.

D

uring wartime (we are talking before the age of computer games that so many soldiers spend their downtime playing), servicemen have plenty of free time. Many read novels but for Saul Bellow, a Canadian-born sailor in the U.S. Merchant Marine fleet, the extra time meant he could write his first book.

Bellow was born to Jewish parents who had immigrated to Canada from Russia before he was born. The family moved to Chicago when he was nine and Saul was always interested in literary material. At Northwestern University, he majored in anthropology because he felt the literary department was anti-Semitic. While in the Merchant Marines, he wrote his first book entitled Dangling Man, which was about a young man who entered the draft. After the war, he became a professor, and in 1948, he was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship which he used to move to France. Bellow wrote many other books and novels and first reached the bestsellers list in 1964. In 1976, he won the Nobel Prize in literature for “for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work.”

Most of these names as well as hundreds of other recipients of the prize are not recognizable to the public.

However, their contributions to society for their life dedication to their studies or work have actually made the world a better place.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions.for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

Writer Saul Bellow

Max Perutz giving a lecture

Eleanor Roosevelt and Rene Cassin, architects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Albert Abraham Michelson

53

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME OCTOBER 6, 2014

86 T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

OCTOBER 6, 2014

54

In the Kitchen Renee Chernin

Cooking for the King •

Many people are reluctant to make

Oven-Baked Glazed Corned Beef Ingredients

corned beef because it usually

• 4–5 pounds pickled beef brisket

has to simmer on the stove top

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

for several hours, heating up the house with a pungent aroma. Once I discovered the oven method, I found the preparation much easier.

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 cup brown sugar • ¾ cup orange juice • 2 tablespoons prepared mustard • 1 teaspoon ground allspice

Preparation Preheat the oven to 350° F. Rinse the beef in cold water and place in a large, deep pan. Add the vinegar, 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, and ½ cup of the orange juice. Fill the pan with water to cover the beef (about 2½ cups), cover tightly with foil, and bake until fork tender, 3–4 hours. Remove the beef from the oven and uncover.

In a small bowl, combine the 1 cup brown sugar, remaining ¼ cup orange juice, mustard, and allspice.

Raise the oven temperature to 400° F. Remove the beef from its juices and transfer to a baking dish fatty-side up, discarding the juices. Score the top of the brisket with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern. Spread the brown sugar glaze over the beef and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool. Slice across the grain. Serve with mustard, if desired.

Renee Chernin, recipe developer and creator of the popular TheKosherChannel.com, was a freestyle cook, experimenting with techniques, never making the same thing twice. When she started her own catering business, she began to write down her recipes, testing and tweaking until each dish was perfectly balanced and easy to reproduce. Passionate as she was about cooking, Renee also realized that it’s not just about great-tasting food. Food plays a crucial role in Jewish life—for nurturing our families and feeding our souls.

Recipes reprinted with permission from Renee’s new cookbook, Cooking for the King, published by Brand Name Publishing.

87

is a sweet and tender cake with just the right spice.

It’s best made a day or two ahead.

Ingredients

Preparation

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare either two 9x9-inch cake pans, one

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

9x13-inch cake pan, three loaf pans, or one 9-inch tube or Bundt pan. Line

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

the bottom of the tube pan with baking paper.

• ½ teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda,

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

salt, cinnamon, cloves or ginger, and allspice. Make a well in the center, and

• 1 teaspoon ground cloves or ginger

pour in the oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee (or tea or cola), juice, and

• 1 teaspoon ground allspice

liquor.

With an electric mixer on slow speed, blend well, making sure that no

• 1 cup oil • 1 cup honey

ingredients are stuck to the bottom. Fold in the raisins, dried cranberries,

• ¾ cup sugar

or chocolate chips, if desired. The batter will be thick.

Spoon the batter into prepared pans. Place cakes on baking sheets in

• ¾ cup light brown sugar • 4 eggs, room temperature

the oven (this helps to brown the bottoms properly).

Bake until the top springs back when pressed gently with your finger:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla • 1 cup coffee, strong black tea, or flat cola

for the sheet cakes or loaves, 40–55 minutes; for the tube or Bundt cake,

• ¹∕³ cup orange or apple juice

1–1½ hours.

Let cool on a wire rack for 10–15 minutes, then gently invert cake onto

• ¹∕³ cup bourbon or rum, or substitute with one of the above liquids

a plate.

The flavor of this cake improves over 2 days. It will keep, tightly covered, for

• ½ cup raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips (optional)

up to 5 days. It can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

Give tradition an update with Honey Cake Cupcakes topped with a creamy Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. The frosting is also deli-

cious when swirled over the cake.

Ingredients • 2 tablespoons margarine, softened

Preparation In a medium mixing bowl, beat the margarine, 2 tablespoons of the

• 2–3 tablespoons honey

honey, sugar, and cinnamon on medium–high speed. Add more honey as

• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar

needed until the frosting is blended and fluffy. Bake the muffins until the

• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

tops spring back when pressed gently with your finger, about 12–15 minutes. Let cool, then top with the frosting.

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Honey Cake

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

•

famous Definitively Moist and Majestic Honey Cake,

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

This honey cake, my version of Marcy Goldman’s

55

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